Cover Art by CHE3ZY
I'm moving in a few days so I might not be able to update next week. I hope you all enjoy this one. Please be sure to let me know what you think in the reviews section and please like and share this fic. Don't forget to vote for your favorite OC on my profile. Rahm and Dr. Haze are tied for first, Jai is in second, and Terre is third.
Later that Evening:
"Is this really necessary?" Asked Jai, who was seated on a tree stump naked as Rahm examined him, and Terre stood off to the side observing. "I'm pretty sure that the aura you gave me healed most of what was left of my injuries; anything left over will heal quickly."
Rahm was meticulously tending to Jai's wounds that had yet to fully heal. He had cleaned them with alcohol, applied antibiotic ointment, and stitched up the larger cuts. Before all of that he'd let Jai siphon off the majority of his aura to help speed up the healing process.
"I think he might have a point," said Terre offhandedly, "isn't this just overkill now?" Terre couldn't help but agree with Jai's point of view. He would heal just fine without additional medical attention.
"I don't know what they taught you guys in Bravo and Delta Squadrons, but in Alpha, we never took injuries lightly," replied Rahm as he was currently wrapping a bandage around Jai's arm.
Terre and Jai shared a look of understanding. Rahm had a point. He was originally an Alpha, a battlefield surgeon and a combat search and rescue specialist. Alphas had the mentality of "sick soldiers are useless soldiers" in their minds, and that meant that they would treat all injuries if able. While a Guardian's wounds would have healed naturally at an accelerated rate due to the surgical augmentation procedures, Rahm cared little for that. He wasn't going to take a chance that Jai's wounds got infected in the hypothetical scenario where his enhanced biology wasn't working.
The three of them were alone in a wooded area outside of Beacon Academy and away from prying eyes. Jai and Terre had long since returned their disguises to the supply case and rendezvoused with Rahm at this location to debrief what happened and for Jai to get a quick medical examination, at Rahm's behest. As Rahm tended to Jai's wounds, Terre recounted Jai's encounter with Salem's pawn, the mysterious half-Maiden, as well as the information on the stolen Paladin mech.
The news of Salem's agent escaping was undesirable for obvious reasons. They had an opportunity to stop Salem's plans, but it slipped through their hands. While the whole situation seemed to be one catastrophic failure, it wasn't without its hidden redemption. Before tonight, they didn't have any practical experience fighting a wielder of magic. The full spectrum of Jai's encounter would serve as a lesson to be learned. When the time came to face Salem they would be better prepared.
"I'd be willing to bet my NON-EXISTENT paycheck that this wouldn't have happened if you had fought with your armor," Rahm made sure to emphasize the word "non-existent" for Terre.
Jai looked at Rahm and then at Terre before speaking.
"Is this some sort of inside joke I'm not in on?"
Rahm smirked at Jai. "At least your grasp on the concept of humor is somewhat developing," Rahm glanced over at Terre, "unlike someone's."
Jai looked at Terre with a raised eyebrow.
"Don't mind him," said Terre, "he thinks he's a comedian now."
Rahm smirked.
"Okay, so you've got some wit," said Rahm, happy with Terre's response, "this is a good development."
Terre simply stared at Rahm while Jai merely shrugged.
While the WRAITH armor would have kept Jai better protected against an out-of-control Maiden's power, its relevance was a moot point. As far as they knew, their suits were locked away in the restricted armory. The general had a point. Their suits would have raised a lot of suspicion toward Atlas. Unless the general gave them their suits back and gave them the green light to use them, they would continue to operate like this.
"You done yet?" Asked Jai.
"One sec," replied Rahm as he finished applying the last bandage, "alright you're good. There should be very minimal scarring, if any, once you're done healing completely."
Jai stood up to full height and looked himself over, taking note of the areas covered by bandages. The bandaged burns and cuts didn't stand out nearly as much as the surgical scars that ran along his arms, chest, legs, and back. Once he was done looking himself over, he went about getting himself dressed by first putting on his compression shorts.
"I'll let the general know what happened," said Jai as he threw his shirt on.
"No," said Terre firmly, "it's my responsibility."
"Not in this case," replied Jai, "You weren't present; therefore, I was acting mission commander. This was my failure."
Rahm spoke up before Terre could get a rebuttal in.
"How about we meet in the middle and just tell him together?"
Jai and Terre made eye contact for a moment before they nodded, agreeing with Rahm.
The fact of the matter was that the general was going to be pissed. Rahm's report about the stolen Paladin didn't help the unpleasant mood General Ironwood was already in because of RWBY's and JNPR's meddling that led to Faline's escape. That unpleasant mood would surely worsen once he learned that Salem's agent managed to escape.
Though, to his credit, General Ironwood hadn't blamed them for the failures. The general blamed himself. He knew what his Guardians were capable of, but he restricted them greatly just to keep cover. The general was playing a delicate game here where he was trying to dismantle Salem's operation behind Ozpin's back.
When they first learned that they'd be going to Beacon Academy as undercover students, the boys thought that their skills and abilities were not the right fit for the assignment. They were, after all, Guardians, killing machines. Since officially coming onto active duty, they executed their missions with precision, and they never failed. This assignment to Beacon, however, changed all of that. First, it was Penny blowing her cover on their watch, then it was Faline escaping during the unexpected run-in with teams RWBY and JNPR, and now it was this failed attempt to apprehend Salem's agent.
To say they never experienced failure before this whole ordeal would have been a lie. During their training to become Guardians, they had each experienced failure in their own way time and again. It was those failures that helped mold them into the elite team they eventually became: Special Mission Unit 117, or the Bad Batch as Rahm dubbed them.
This assignment to Beacon Academy presented them with new challenges, some of which no training could have prepared them for. The boys were not used to operating in this sort of restricted environment. They were used to being given free rein to execute their missions. In all fairness, though, their previous missions were much simpler than this one. Here they had to constantly take witnesses into account, while previously they never left any witnesses.
In the end, it didn't matter. They would need to adapt and overcome.
Terre retrieved his scroll, making eye contact with his brothers as he did so. He dialed a number and stood there as the scroll rang for a few moments before the familiar voice of the general answered.
"Report," said the general. He'd been expecting their call.
"Sir," said Terre, "we've got an update."
"Let's hear it soldier."
Location Unknown:
A female figure stood in a throne room. The room was dark, illuminated by candles and the little light that came through the overhead stained-glass windows. The female figure in question looked human, but it was clear she was not. Her skin and hair were chalk-white, she had dark purple veins that ran along her arms and face, there was a diamond-shaped marking in the center of her forehead, and she was dressed in a long black dress. The trait that stood out the most was her blood-red eyes that lacked any warmth or life whatsoever.
Those same eyes stared out the window, observing a barren, hellish landscape. Here, the ground itself gave birth to Grimm of all kinds as they crawled out of black pools that dotted the dark land. Next to her, there was a man with a scorpion tail, indicating he was a faunus, who was kneeling, following her gaze religiously. The man looked mentally unstable as he smiled disturbingly as the woman's hand rested on his hand as if he were a pet.
The sound of a door opening drew their attention from the landscape. The woman turned and watched as an extremely tall, muscular man walked in. The bearded man was human, appeared to be in his early to mid-forties, and was dressed in a green coat over a black shirt and black pants. The man stopped a few feet away from her before he kneeled and bowed his head.
"Your Grace," he said.
"Hazel," her soft, melodic voice was in stark contrast to her inhuman appearance, "what news do you bring?"
The man known as Hazel Rainhart looked up, meeting her gaze.
"Cinder has sent an update from Beacon Academy. She encountered an…anomaly it seems."
Salem studied Hazel for a moment with a questioning gaze.
"Go on," she said.
Hazel proceeded to inform Salem of the fully detailed report of Cinder's account of events that had transpired. During Hazel's long explanation, Salem remained calm and silent. When he finally finished, Salem took a moment to process everything she'd heard.
"So," she said, "this being she encountered is the cause of the violent attacks on the White Fang during the last few years?"
"According to Adam Taurus, yes," replied Hazel.
"And she believes that there are more of these monsters or 'Harvesters' as Adam refers to them?" Asked the witch.
"Yes, your Grace," replied the giant of a man.
"Hmm," she hummed, "if what she says is true then this could potentially disturb our plans in Vale."
"What are your orders?" Asked Hazel.
This time it was the faunus who spoke up.
"My Goddess," he said, "allow me to go to Vale and deal with this annoyance for you."
"I did not ask for your input Tyrian," said the witch, "if I wanted you to go I would have said so."
Tyrian Callows, the infamous serial killer, immediately put his head on the floor with his arms out in front of him.
"Forgive me, my Goddess," he said in a humble tone.
Salem turned her attention back to Hazel.
"For now," she said, "we will continue to monitor the situation. We will move forward as planned. Inform Cinder that she is to avoid doing anything to provoke the attention of these beings. She only possesses half of the Fall Maiden's power, and if one of them nearly defeated her then this is not a threat to take lightly."
"Yes, your Grace. It will be done."
"One more thing," said Salem, "I want these beings investigated. If there is any additional information about them to be found, I want it."
Hazel nodded respectfully.
"That is all Hazel. You and Tyrian may go."
Tyrian knew better than to disobey her. The scorpion faunus respectfully bowed his head to her before following Hazel out of the room, leaving Salem alone in her throne room to ponder on the emergence of these unknown players.
Were they by chance agents of Ozma? She highly doubted it. From what Cinder had to say, these beings were the agents of death and destruction in the eyes of the White Fang. In any case, she would learn more about these beings and they would be dealt with.
Atlas Academy:
The sound of classical piano music resonated throughout the lab as Cassandra sat at her desk with a cup of coffee in hand. The head scientist stole a glance at the small pile of papers on her desk, taking a mental note to attend to the enormous workload that was waiting for her. Project Sentinel had been taking up most of her time and she couldn't make it go any faster because she was the only one allowed to know. She would need to start delegating the bulk of her other duties to the many scientists and engineers under her.
Currently, the good doctor was taking a break from her work. In front of her, there were a few journals, letters, and photos, as well as some old documents she'd pulled from her vault. She'd just finished reading one of her father's journal entries from when he was a freshman at Atlas Academy. The doctor examined an old photo of her and her father. The good doctor smiled warmly, remembering Thomas Haze as her father and not the beloved military general.
Speaking of general, James called her a few days ago to inform her that Zero-Three-Seven encountered Salem's agent, the one who stole Amber's power. Understandably, he was furious that she managed to get away. Though, it seemed her escape was owed to luck more than anything else. Zero-Six-Nine found Zero-Three-Seven buried beneath a warehouse with minor injuries. Though that little bitch managed to escape, the silver lining was that her Guardians were okay. They would rebound and overcome. They always did.
She set the picture of her father down. Her eyes caught sight of a document that was labeled above top secret. She reached for it and held it up to see better.
Project Genesis
The images of dead children entered her mind. The doctor closed her eyes, trying to shut out those images. Once she regained her composure, she went about reading the document in its entirety. As she read it, she couldn't help but look up occasionally and steal glances at the in-progress prototype for Project Sentinel that lay on a worktable in the center of the lab. An idea began to form in the doctor's mind.
"Maybe," she said out loud to herself, "just maybe."
Beacon Academy:
Pyrrha struck Cardin who tried to counter only to hit her shield before getting driven back. He fell to one knee and then rolled to dodge as she came down from above. Pyrrha launched her spear at Dove and then knocked him down.
She then fired a shot at Lark then blocked Feather's Edge with her shield. Switching from sword to spear and driving him back, firing another shot before knocking Sky to the ground. She attacked Cardin again who unleashed a short column of fire from the red Dust crystal in The Executioner by smashing the floor. She dodged the blast and then blocked Cardin's swing before he and Sky attempted to double-team Pyrrha. Only for her to avoid them both before she vaulted over Cardin.
Up in the seats where the other students were observing the fight, Jai watched with interest as he studied Pyrrha's movements. If there was any doubt as to who the best Huntress or Hunter in Beacon was, Pyrrha shattered it. He could see why her nickname of 'The Invincible Girl" stuck to her.
While the other students wouldn't be able to catch it, the members of team PGRT could see Pyrrha's subtle use of her semblance, where she would alter the trajectory of her enemy's weapons ever so slightly to avoid hitting her. She was stronger and faster than any of her peers at Beacon and her movements did not waste energy. Every one of her moves was calculated and timed just right. Jai found himself nodding in approval.
She'd easily qualify for most special operations units. he said to himself mentally.
Pyrrha threw her shield, which hit Cardin in the face and it bounced back to hit Sky as well. She then flipped back through the air to catch it then land on Sky, incapacitating him. Dove and Russel rushed her together, but she was able to drive them back. She kicked Dove away who managed to recover, landing on his feet as Cardin leaped in to smash at her with his mace.
Pyrrha dodged and opened fire with the rifle form of Miló, but Russel defended Cardin, deflecting every shot with Shortwings. He and Dove charged at Pyrrha, with Russel leaping into the air and performing a triple somersault. However, the double-kick attack was easily blocked with her shield. Russel and Dove proceed to strike at Pyrrha together, demonstrating precision through their ability to avoid hitting one another during the attack.
She fell back, still managing to parry every blow, as Cardin attempted to capitalize on the distraction. Pyrrha opened fire again but this time Cardin deflected the bullets with his weapon. He charged at her only to be met with a knee to the chin, the two clashed with Cardin receiving several hits. Russel ducked in under Cardin for a surprise attack but also proved himself unable to wear her down.
Pyrrha dodged every slash before she hit him with her shield, Dove moved in after Russel was knocked to the ground. After a couple of deflected swipes, he fired on her with Hallshott, but she was able to push right through using her shield. Although he was able to avoid her attack, Dove found himself knocked out of the fight by an errant swing from Cardin, who moved in for another assault. Pyrrha knocked Cardin into the air and then leaped after him. Cardin blocked a few hits, but she quickly maneuvered herself to slam him into the ground.
Glynda approached from behind Cardin, who clutched his ribs in agony.
"And that's the match."
"Lucky shot." Cardin collapsed just as he spoke.
Glynda turned her attention to Pyrrha. "Well done, Miss Nikos. You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament."
"Thank you, professor."
The assistant headmistress tapped her scroll.
"Alright, now I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one or two more sparring matches."
Glynda looked around at the observing students.
"Any volunteers? Ms. Belladonna?"
Blake slammed her book shut and stared wide-eyed at Professor Goodwitch.
"You've been rather docile for the past few classes. Why don't you-"
Mercury raised his hand.
"I'll do it."
Glynda perked up at the sound of his voice. "Mercury, is it? Very well, let's find you an opponent."
"Actually, I wanna fight... her." Mercury pointed to Pyrrha.
"Me?"
"I'm afraid Miss Nikos has just finished the match. I recommend you choose another partner."
"No, it's fine! I'd be happy to-"
Glynda cut her off.
"No. You just fought four students at once. Mercury will fight someone else."
Pyrrha almost thought to raise further protest but realized Goodwitch would be having none of it today. Glynda scanned the rows of other students, having forgotten about Blake. Her gaze landed on Terre.
"Mr. Verte."
Terre perked up at the mention of his name.
"Ma'am?"
"Please come down and help Mr. Black with his match."
Terre cocked an eyebrow but nodded as he stood up.
"Yes, ma'am."
Mercury eyed Terre as he made his way down. The guy was huge, but it didn't matter. He'd killed bigger. This guy wouldn't be a problem.
Terre observed the silver-haired warrior's face. The smug arrogance that permeated his expression belied something far more dangerous than a typical Hunter in training. But he'd taken down far more powerful with much more reason to carry themselves so arrogantly. Terre stepped onto the show floor, only turning to face Mercury when he took the position Glynda had instructed him to.
Mercury could get a better look at Terre now. There was something off about this guy. His eyes held a sort of gravity. He couldn't explain it, but something wasn't right. It looks like he'd have to proceed with caution.
Pyrrha took her seat in between Jaune and Jai. The scarlet-haired girl was smiling all the while. Penny was sitting in between Jai and Rahm. The robot girl shot Pyrrha a warm smile and a wave, which Pyrrha returned.
"Well done," said Jai.
Pyrrha turned and looked at Jai. She smiled sheepishly at the praise. Before she could say anything, however, Jai continued to speak.
"The only thing you could work to improve on is your marksmanship. I noticed that three of your shots missed their targets."
Pyrrha found herself surprised. He wasn't wrong. During the fight a few of her shots missed Dove. The fact that Jai managed to spot that was nothing short of incredible. She was the one fighting and even then, she barely noticed that.
"Thank you, Jai," she replied, "although I'm amazed you managed to notice that. Do you have more advice you want to give?"
Jai thought for a moment before replying.
"One of your kicks didn't extend fully. You would have been able to deliver more force if you had."
"Maybe you could help me with that sometime?" She asked.
"Anytime," replied Jai.
Pyrrha smiled.
"Thank you."
A few seats down, Ruby was watching with interest as Terre was preparing to face Mercury.
As this all transpired, Rahm wasn't paying attention at all. He was reading his aerospace magazine.
Glynda spotted Rahm not paying attention. The beautiful professor's eye twitched in anger.
"Mr. Tangerin!"
Rahm glanced up from his magazine. "Ma'am?"
"Pay attention!"
Rahm feigned interest just long enough to get Glynda to take her attention back to the match that was about to begin. Up on the screen that overlooked the sparring area, the aura levels of the two combatants appeared, both showing 100 percent. Glynda glanced at the two combatants for a moment before raising her hand.
"Begin!"
Terre settled into a defensive stance while Mercury sized the super soldier up. Mercury noticed that Terre hadn't grabbed his staff, which was still clasped over his back.
A smug smirk etched its way onto Mercury's face. This would be too easy. Mercury sprinted towards Terre before jumping up to throw a kick aimed at Terre's face. Terre moved faster than Mercury expected and backflipped away, avoiding the shotgun round that was expended from Mercury's boot.
So that's his weapon. His boots have shotguns embedded in them. Not too dissimilar from Yang's Ember Celica.
Terre resumed his defensive stance. His ever-emotionless gaze locked onto Mercury, who looked back at him with a new sense of interest. Mercury charged again but this time he went low and attempted a leg sweep but Terre jumped and flipped over him to avoid it. From his position on the floor, Mercury fell back into a half-back spring before launching his feet towards Terre with his arms acting as the launching platform. Terre sidestepped the attack before he landed a punch to Mercury's exposed solar plexus.
"Gah!" Mercury staggered a few feet back, holding his midsection in pain as he struggled to breathe.
The silver-haired assassin's eyes narrowed in anger at the indifferent form of Terre. It was clear he wasn't even trying.
Alrighty, then big guy. I guess I'll have to fight seriously after all.
Mercury steadied his breathing before he resumed his stance.
The students observing were watching with great interest. Most of them at least. Jai was glancing at his watch, eager for the class to end. Unfortunately for him, Professor Goodwitch explicitly stated there would be a few more matches after Pyrrha's match against team CRDL. Rahm's eyes were glued to the new issue of his aerospace magazine. Penny was the only observing member of team PGRT that was paying attention.
Mercury charged Terre again. Mercury leaped into the air and flipped before launching a downward aerial kick at Terre's position. Terre sidestepped and avoided the kick. Mercury grunted as he performed a kick akin to breakdancing while firing rounds from his boots.
Terre managed to avoid the shotgun blasts by leaping into the air and landing behind Mercury. Terre delivered a devastating blow to Mercury's kidneys that sent the silver-haired boy tumbling forward. The assassin's son gritted his teeth in anger as he launched himself at Terre again. His movements became more erratic and chaotic.
At this point, he merely wanted to hurt Terre, but the super soldier managed to dodge every one of his attacks with relative ease. Mr. Black may have been more skilled than most students at Beacon but compared to Terre he was nothing but a basic novice.
Moreover, Mercury's arsenal was quite limited and offered little variety to counter someone of Terre's caliber. Terre ducked under one of Mercury's roundhouse kicks before he swept the boy's legs out from under him, sending him to the floor face first. Terre immediately grabbed Mercury's arms before he pinned him to the ground with his boot on the boy's back.
"Yield."
Mercury grunted, struggling to break free but Terre's boot remained firm.
"N-Never…"
Terre applied more pressure, earning a pained grunt from Mercury.
"I think we've seen enough," said the voice of Professor Goodwitch. "Terre Verte is the winner of the match."
Terre immediately released Mercury, who slowly got up from the floor. The silver-haired assassin's son glared daggers at Terre before he walked back to his seat. Terre watched him with mild interest before he too returned to his seat.
"Excellent work Mr. Verte," Glynda typed in the results of the match in her datapad, "up next will be…let's see…"
Her eyes immediately landed on Rahm. She caught him reading his magazine again when she explicitly told him not to.
"Mr. Tangerin."
Rahm was too busy reading to notice her calling his name; either that or he simply didn't care. Glynda's eye twitched in anger. Was he seriously too focused on that blasted magazine to realize she was calling on him?
"MR. TANGERIN!"
Rahm immediately looked up from his magazine and towards Professor Goodwitch.
"Yes ma'am?"
"Since observing is obviously too boring for you, why don't you come down here and entertain yourself with a spar?"
"Yes ma'am."
Rahm put his magazine down and went down to the sparring floor.
"Gonna make this quick," he muttered to his teammates as he passed them.
Penny couldn't help but giggle that Rahm had gotten called out in class for not paying attention. Jai and Terre remained indifferent. To be honest, they didn't care much for the class either. Rahm found himself standing next to Professor Goodwitch, dwarfing the already tall woman with his height.
"Now let's find you an opponent Mr. Tangerin," she said as she looked back up at the students.
The beautiful assistant headmistress locked eyes with Neptune immediately.
"Mr. Vasilias," she said, "why don't you come down?"
"Uh…you sure?" Neptune asked.
"Positive."
Neptune nodded before he made his way down to the floor. Rahm, meanwhile, was busy checking his watch, eyeing the time. He was eager to get back to reading.
Neptune readied his weapon, while Rahm stood there with an aura of indifference. Glynda eyed the two for a moment before she raised her hand in the air and spoke.
"Begin!"
Neptune charged forward with his trident forward. When he was only a few feet away from Rahm he thrust his trident forward, but all of a sudden, he found himself flying across the room without his weapon. Faster than Neptune could register, Rahm had grabbed the trident and with great strength he flung Neptune across the room, sending him crashing into the wall. Rahm threw the trident at a recovering Neptune, who yelled in surprise as he found his weapon stabbed into the section of the wall right next to his head.
"Yield?"
Neptune looked over to Rahm with wide eyes. He had no idea what had just happened. He wasn't alone, however. The observing students, as well as Professor Goodwitch, were all staring in shock, unsure of what had just happened. Only Rahm's teammates were unfazed by the whole thing. Neptune shook himself out of his stupor. He didn't say anything. He could only nod, agreeing to yield.
Glynda cleared her throat.
"In that case, the winner is Rahm Tangerin."
Rahm nodded at the professor before returning to his seat and resuming his reading. Glynda rolled her eyes at Rahm's antics. At this point, she accepted that there was no separating that boy from his aerospace magazine.
Glynda looked at her watch. It was technically possible to squeeze in one more match, but after that last match, she doubted anyone was in the mood for a serious spar.
"That is all for today. And remember, the dance is this weekend. But you all have your first mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses."
The students began to file out of the room. On the way out, Mercury and Emerald glared at the members of team PGRT. Mercury was enraged by his humiliating defeat.
Rahm put his magazine away and made to stand up but was stopped by Terre and Jai. He looked up at his two brothers questioningly. Penny merely observed and said nothing.
"Something wrong?"
"What happened to keeping a low profile?"
Rahm rolled his eyes at Jai's rhetorical question.
"I wanted to finish reading."
"That's not the point," said Terre, "we have a job to do and the last thing we need is to blow cover. Tone it down next time."
Rahm looked at Terre with a raised eyebrow.
"Speak for yourself. Seems like you forgot how you mopped the floor with Mercury."
Terre and Jai stared at Rahm with blank expressions, remaining silent.
"That is enough," said Penny sternly, earning slight looks of surprise from her brothers. "You three are brothers. You should not be acting like this. You three have not been in the best of moods lately. Allow us to forget this and move on."
The boys said nothing, too busy processing Penny's commanding tone. She wasn't entirely wrong, though. The boys hadn't exactly been in the best of moods in the last few days. They were correct in predicting that General Ironwood would be angry upon hearing the news of their failure to capture Salem's agent.
Though he was indeed angry, he wasn't angry at them so much as he was angry with himself. It was he who placed the great multitude of restrictions on them. He was confident that they would have succeeded if that hadn't been the case.
That wasn't to say he didn't give them a verbal dressing down, however. The boys had been expecting it. After he reprimanded them for their failure to capture Salem's pawn, he let them know he was glad they were all okay.
The next time they encountered her they would be ready. They would win.
Pyrrha and Jaune were sparring at their spot on the roof. Their swords clashed repeatedly in a series of blocks and attacks. Jaune appeared to gain the upper hand for a moment until Pyrrha smirked. She dropped to the ground and swept his legs out from under him.
"Well done!" She said ecstatically. "Your sword play's improved immensely."
Pyrrha helped Jaune to his feet.
"I couldn't have done it without you."
"So, are you ready to move on to Aura?"
"I'm actually thinking maybe we just skip Aura for tonight? Might go on a jog or something."
"Come on, I know you get frustrated, but you must keep trying. I'm sure you'll discover your Semblance any day now."
"That's not it. It's just...it's dumb."
"What is it?" She approached Jaune and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Jaune, you know you can tell me."
Jaune let out a tired sigh.
"It's... Weiss."
Pyrrha's face fell slightly.
"Oh…what about her?"
"I asked her to the dance, and she shot me down. Big surprise, right?"
"Well, I believe the saying goes: There are... plenty of fish in the sea."
"That's easy for you to say. You've probably got guys clamoring over each other just to ask you out."
Pyrrha chuckled half-heartedly.
"You'd be surprised."
Jaune dismissed the thought.
"Oh please. If you don't get a date to the dance, I'll wear a dress. Heh."
He walked away.
Pyrrha dropped her smile, looking rather upset. A few minutes passed and Jai appeared in the doorway to the roof with two water bottles in hand. He looked about the roof in confusion.
"Where's Jaune?"
Pyrrha shook herself out of her sadness and did her best to put on her usual happy demeanor.
"He…he had something come up…" Pyrrha turned and looked out over the edge of the rooftop.
Jai raised a skeptical eyebrow. He walked over to Pyrrha's side and held out a water bottle for her to take. Pyrrha accepted it, albeit with a noticeable lack of energy.
"I feel as though that's not what happened."
Pyrrha took a sip of water, her sorrowful eyes lowered.
"Well, that is what happened," she replied. She was a little bitter about Jaune's fawning over a girl who clearly had no interest in him. What hurt more was the fact that he was completely oblivious to her obvious hints of interest. She sighed.
"Jai?"
"Yes Pyrrha?"
"This might seem like a strange question, but have you ever struggled to gain someone's attention only for that person to completely miss your hints?"
"No," he replied. "If I ever wanted to speak with someone, I always made sure to communicate it clearly so that there was no room for misinterpretation."
Pyrrha blinked. It seemed he took the question literally. Perhaps she should have been more specific. Speaking of which, should she have been more direct with Jaune? Then again, she was very forward with her interest. She dropped an extremely obvious hint that she was infatuated with him in the video recording she made for Jaune to help with his training. Jaune couldn't be that dense, could he? She brought her attention back to the boy beside her and the literal response he gave her.
Pyrrha couldn't help but let out a giggle.
"I'm sorry Jai. I don't think I was clear. I meant have you ever had romantic feelings for another person only for that person to not notice your interest?"
Jai remained silent. He thought back to the socialization classes he took with Dr. Lockhart. She explained the concept of romance to them, but it was arguably the most difficult thing he learned. Jai began to formulate a coherent response to that question.
"I can't say that I have…"
Pyrrha sighed. "I see…"
Jai noticed her cheery expression vanish, replaced by one of sadness. This didn't bode well. Pyrrha was a naturally happy individual. She actually reminded him of Penny in a few ways. Jai wasn't a people person; hell, he was barely a person. He was a weapon. More machine in nature than man. Raised, trained, and surgically and technologically enhanced to do one thing. Save the world at all costs. But even then, he was able to deduce that she asked that question as a means of helping with a situation she was facing. He spoke again.
"Why do you care?"
Pyrrha blinked, taken aback by what she heard.
"W-What?"
"Why would you care about what someone who fails to see your worth thinks? I may not be well versed in these sorts of things, but it is clear that this person does not care for you in that way. So why should you?"
Jai's words stung her. He wasn't insulting her by any means, but she simply wasn't prepared for his bluntness. She looked down at the ground, a sad frown etched itself back onto her face as he continued to speak.
"If this person cannot appreciate you in that way, then it is his loss. Not yours."
Pyrrha looked up at Jai. It was his loss? Not hers? She didn't know what to think or say. She was too busy trying to process everything at once. A minute of silence went by before Pyrrha found the words she wanted to say.
"I…I think I'll go to bed. Thank you for speaking with me Jai."
Jai nodded, watching her leave towards the rooftop's stairwell. Pyrrha, meanwhile, continued to ponder Jai's words. Was she wasting her time chasing after Jaune? She couldn't answer that. She didn't know what to think. She had strong feelings for Jaune, or at least she thought so. She had zero romantic experience with boys. Being the pride of Mistral, she was always placed on a pedestal and always deemed to be too good for anyone to attain. No one treated her like a normal person until she arrived at Beacon. Jaune didn't even know her name when she met him. He treated her like a normal person.
Pyrrha briefly stopped midway down the stairs. Another thought crept into her mind.
Jaune wasn't the first to not know her name or treat her like a normal person.
"Jai…" she whispered to herself.
Jai didn't know who she was when she met him. He was technically the first person she met at Beacon who wasn't trying to get her autograph. She had been dismayed when she found out he already belonged to a team. She would have been lying to herself if she said she hadn't found herself blushing because of Jai more than once. How he acted was so…she didn't even know if she had the right word to describe it. Machinelike? Was that it? Except for Penny, team PGRT never smiled. They seemed so distant and yet they were some of the noblest people she had ever met.
Despite being so distant, they were like RWBY's and JNPR's sister team. The way they stood up for Velvet and put team CRDL in their place while everyone else stood idly by was nothing short of inspiring. She felt such joy in her heart when he returned Velvet's camera to her. Seeing the crying girl get cheered up made her see a gentler side to Jai's strong and silent exterior.
Pyrrha continued moving down the stairs.
Based on how little he spoke; Jai was a person who let his actions speak for him. His actions said many things. Pyrrha came to know he was devoted and could always be counted on. Pyrrha knew that Penny viewed her teammates as akin to older brothers. The way in which they protected her was nothing short of heartwarming. She would hold their hands whenever they walked together, and they would never pull away to put up a tough guy act. For some reason, Pyrrha would smile more when she saw Jai hold Penny's hand.
Maybe it was because she saw him more than any other member of team PGRT. When he wasn't with his team, he was with her. That probably explained why she came to him for help when Jaune asked her to train him. Jai didn't make any excuses. He simply said yes and was always there to help her train Jaune. He was always there when she needed him. She smiled before her thoughts came back to a certain blonde-haired boy.
Was her fawning over Jaune just a simple crush? Would it be something that she would forget soon enough?
She didn't know. Hopefully, a good night's rest would put her thoughts at ease.
Cinder sat on her bed as she was doing sewing work on a black dress. Emerald was sitting on the floor while looking at her Scroll, and Mercury was lying on the ground and reading a comic book. The half-Maiden was currently listening to Emerald and Mercury recount what they observed of the different fighting abilities of the students at Beacon. As she listened, she couldn't help but think back to her recent encounter with the Harvester, the demon.
Her victory had earned her the unwavering respect of Adam and the White Fang, and it even made Roman less snarky around her, evidence that he feared her even more than before.
She still wasn't sure if what she fought was human or not. What she did know was that if there were more like him then they could present a serious threat to her plans, to Salem's plans. She needed to tread carefully and ensure she didn't run into another one before she was ready.
"Next we have Pyrrha Nikos," said Emerald as she continued to look at her scroll.
Cinder pushed the thoughts of the demon away.
"Ah, the invincible girl," replied Cinder. "Does she live up to her name?"
"Based on pure observation? I would say yes," replied Mercury, "but I wasn't able to see for myself. Goodwitch barred me from fighting her. She made me fight some guy named Terre Verte."
Mercury spoke the name of his opponent with a noticeable venom in his voice, which didn't go unnoticed by Cinder.
"Oh? And how did that go?"
Mercury didn't respond. He didn't look her in the eye but instead looked away in shame. At this, Emerald spoke up.
"In Mercury's defense, team PGRT is by no means normal from what we've been able to observe."
"How so?" Cinder was curious.
"The entire fight felt like it was a losing battle for me. The guy had some insane focus and skill. He was completely emotionless, like a killing machine. That's the vibe I got from him," said Mercury.
Cinder merely looked at him with a questioning gaze. She wanted a better explanation. Mercury sighed and relented.
"He wasn't even trying. He was so much stronger than anyone I'd encountered before. I don't know how to describe it exactly but trust me when I say he's not to be taken lightly."
Cinder tapped her chin lightly in deep thought. She wasn't sure what to make of this revelation.
"What else can you tell me?" Asked Cinder.
"His teammate, Rahm Tangerin, fought against Neptune Vasilias," replied Mercury.
"And?"
This time it was Emerald who answered.
"He finished the fight in less than ten seconds."
Cinder narrowed her eyes slightly.
"What about the other two?"
"Jai Gris and Ironwood's robot girl didn't fight so we don't know how good they are," replied Emerald, "but I would be willing to bet some serious lien that Jai is just as good as Terre and Rahm."
Cinder's brow furrowed slightly. This was certainly an interesting turn of events. She would need to adjust their next moves accordingly if everything was going to go according to plan.
"I've been reading up on little Penny thanks to the schematics that Watts generously provided," Cinder stated, "while we have an idea of what to expect from her, her three teammates seem to be wildcards. Do we have anything on them?"
Mercury handed her a copy of their transcripts that he managed to get his hands on.
"That's all I could dig up on them," he said, "nothing out of the ordinary from what I could see."
Cinder frowned as she read through their files. Despite the files having everything that they should have, something felt off to Cinder. From what Mercury and Emerald told her, their skill level did not match up with what she was reading in their files.
The half-maiden mentally sighed. This was just what she needed. First, she had to deal with demons and now she would need to keep an eye out for these boys and their robot teammate. She looked up at her two followers.
"We need to tread carefully," said Cinder, "Ironwood's robot puppet will most likely be protected by them. And if they're as good as you say then it could be an issue. For now, we will press forward."
A little longer than the last one. I know that some of you might think that Ironwood's reaction is inappropriate. Some might think it's too soft and some might think it's too hard. James is pissed but he recognizes when he's at fault. He knows what the boys are capable of and yet he's placed all these restrictions on them, limiting their performance. So while he is pissed, he knows that the person who should bear most of the blame is himself. The main problem General Ironwood and the Bad Batch face is having to operate below Ozpin's radar. James still values Ozpin as a friend and ally. he doesn't want to destroy everything by letting Ozpin find out he's been going behind his back. More importantly, though, looks like Terre and Jai are starting to understand humor haha. No, Rahm is not mad he doesn't get paid. He's just the most human of his brothers as you all can tell with his attempts at making jokes haha. Definitely keep an eye on Project Genesis. Hopefully some of you can figure out what it entails. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. See you all next time.
-Dude64