Ruby yawned into her hand while the blinding light from the rising sun trickled in between her eyelashes and into her retinas. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself to preserve body heat. It had been getting much colder recently.

There were still Atlas soldiers and personnel scattered all around as she approached the CCT the next morning. Ozpin had told her that he wanted to talk to her about last night and to meet him in his office. She just hoped that whatever information she could provide would help in the search at all. She couldn't give a very detailed description of the attacker considering that they were wearing a mask.

A chilly gust of wind swept over her petite form, eliciting goosebumps on her bare arms. She really should've brought a sweater or something. She couldn't imagine how cold it was in Atlas at this time of year. It would only get colder too. It wasn't even November yet.

Ruby walked up the steps of the CCT and reached out to push the doors open before a large armored body stepped in front of her, impeding her path. Ruby looked up to see an armed Atlas soldier preventing her entry.

"Sorry, Miss. The CCT is undergoing repairs. You'll have to check back another time," the man said. He was kind at least. He was just doing his job and she couldn't fault him for that, even if she was a bit annoyed.

Ruby stood straighter. "Sorry, Sir. But Headmaster Ozpin called me to his office. I promise I won't get in your way but I really need to get in."

"Name?"

General Ironwood really should've told his soldiers that she was coming. "Ruby Rose."

The man pressed a button on his helmet, presumably to contact General Ironwood who was no doubt waiting along with Ozpin. After only a few moments, the soldier nodded and opened the door for the young Rose. He yelled a few commands to the soldiers inside to not stop her before closing the door.

Ruby would've thought this was a bit over the top but considering what happened last night it kinda made sense. She had no clue what her attacker was even here for. Did she want to steal something or just mess with the CCT?

Ruby waited an uncomfortably long time for the elevator to reach the ground floor before stepping inside. She seriously debated pressing every single button in the elevator so she could delay the meeting but decided it was best to get it over with.

The stupid elevator music wasn't making her situation any better either.

I need my own theme song, Ruby grumbled in her mind, listening to the elevator music.

The elevator doors swished open to a familiar office that Ruby had seen only once before. All things considered, the office was very dull. The only furniture was Ozpin's desk and chair that sat by the window. The most striking feature of the office was the intricate clockwork mechanisms on the walls that operated the clock that could be seen from outside. Remarkably, they made very little noise when the hands shifted. She could only hear it because of her heightened hearing.

Ozpin was currently mid-conversation with General Ironwood and Glynda Goodwitch. She could tell the conversation was getting heated by the way Ironwood was gesticulating.

I still have time to sneak back into the elevator and go home. I can pretend this never happened and save myself.

"Ah, hello Ms. Rose."

Dammit…

"H-Hello, Sir," Ruby stuttered, bashfully. "I-Is this a bad time? I can come back later if you'd like."

General Ironwood shook his head. "Not at all, Ms. Rose. We were just discussing the events of last night. I find it hard to believe that Beacon's security was breached so easily."

A thought came to her mind. "Umm, wasn't it your guards that failed to protect the CCT?" Ruby didn't mean for that to sound condescending, but judging by the scowl that warped Ironwood's face and the barely hidden smile that Ozpin sported, she assumed that she failed in that regard.

I'm just making this worse.

"Thank you for coming, Ruby. How are you feeling?"

Okay. Simple conversation. I can do simple conversation.

"I'm feeling fine, I guess. My dress was destroyed and my pride took a hit but apart from that… I'm good." Ruby rubbed the back of her head shyly.

Ozpin smiled. "I'm glad to see your health and your spirits are up. My apologies for calling you here so early in the morning. General Ironwood gave us a brief summary of what took place last night but you engaged the assailant in a duel. We would appreciate your side of the story."

Ruby explained to the best of her abilities what went down last night. From seeing the woman leaping across the rooftops to encountering her in the CCT.

"The CCT looked untouched when I got up there. I'm not sure what she was there for. I don't think she took anything." Ruby cupped her chin in silent contemplation. This was going to bother her for a while.

"Was there anybody with her?" Ms. Goodwitch asked. "Did she look familiar to you at all? Did she have any defining characteristics that stood out?"

Ruby shook her head. "I'm pretty sure I never saw her before, but she was wearing a mask so I'm not entirely positive." Ruby scratched her head. "She was all alone too. I would've been in some serious trouble if there were two. As for defining characteristics…" Ruby closed her eyes and thought hard about what to say next. "Her eyes were a bright amber color. They actually looked pretty similar to Blake's eyes."

General Ironwood raised an eyebrow. "Blake?"

"It wasn't her," Ruby immediately jumped in to protect her feline friend. "Blake is a faunus and this woman was either a human or a faunus with easily hidable traits. Blake has cat ears that I would've definitely noticed if it had been her." She felt a little bad about outing Blake's identity as a faunus to the general but she had a feeling she would prefer it to having him coming to her dorm and arresting her.

General Ironwood nodded and thankfully didn't press the matter further.

"Apart from that, I guess her long black hair was pretty striking."

Ms. Goodwitch was taking notes on her tablet while Ozpin nodded.

Ruby crossed her arms. "She fought with… I want to say it was glass but I don't think that was her Semblance. Her clothes lit up whenever she attacked. She was able to switch between a bow and arrow and a pair of swords. She also threw a bunch of fire at me."

"Embedding dust into clothing is an age-old technique," Ironwood explained. "I have a few Huntsmen under my employ who do the exact same thing. Her glowing clothing can be explained with dust."

Ruby shook her head. "No, I don't think it was dust."

General Ironwood turned to her and narrowed his eyes. His large form stood well above her. "What do you mean?"

"Well… She might've had dust woven into her clothing as well but I don't think that was all. I noticed something when I was fighting her. Whenever she used her fire, her eyes also burst into flames."

She expected a quick answer to her statement. Instead, all she got were three pairs of wide-eyed stares. The faint hum of her Spider-Sense kept her on her toes.

Ozpin rested his chin on his interlocked fingers. "Ms. Rose. Are you absolutely positive that her eyes also burst into flames? This is extremely important."

Ruby strengthened her resolve. "Yes. Unless someone started making contact lenses with fire dust." Ruby didn't really understand why Ironwood and Ms. Goodwitch looked so worried. "But fire-based Semblances are pretty common. Even my sister has one and there are at least four students in Signal who have one as well."

All three of them shared a look with each other. Ruby almost wanted to ask what the big deal was but correctly deduced that they wouldn't tell her if she asked.

Ruby continued with her retelling of the events. "We fought for a good while and destroyed a good amount of the CCT in the process." She rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed. "Sorry about that, Sir."

Ozpin waved her apology off but didn't say anything.

"I did manage to beat her and give her a nasty black eye before she blew me out the window right when General Ironwood got there. My Semblance saved me but that was close. She was pretty strong too."

Ms. Goodwitch removed her glasses with shaky hands and used the hem of her shirt to wipe the fog off of them. Her green eyes darted around like a fish in a bag being shaken by a toddler.

"Thank you, Ms. Rose," Ozpin said with a sigh. "Your information will prove invaluable for apprehending this criminal. As a thank you, Beacon will pay for a new dress to replace the one that got destroyed during your battle."

Sweet!

"Thank you, sir," Ruby expressed her gratitude. "Sorry I couldn't be more help."

"Nonsense, Ms. Rose. You're information might very well save lives," General Ironwood said. "We will discuss this matter further. Why don't you go have breakfast?"

Ruby knew that the general was just trying to get her to go away so they could talk. She really wanted to help out however she could, but she knew they wouldn't tell her anything unless they absolutely needed to.

Also, she didn't want to admit it but it really wasn't her problem right now. Someone attacked the CCT at Beacon and the Beacon staff and General Ironwood were currently working on it. There was really no reason for her to get involved right now. She was just one little girl after all. She didn't have to do everything herself. Spider-Woman was still needed in Vale after all, she couldn't spend all her time trying to find one random woman whose face she couldn't even see properly.

She would just have to trust them to handle it.

Ruby sighed and made her way to the elevator. That meeting was a lot shorter than she had expected it to be. She should be grateful that she didn't have to hang around for very long but she couldn't help but feel like she didn't help much. Maybe she would've felt better if she actually caught the criminal.

Her rumbling stomach tugged her from her thoughts. She didn't eat last night on account of her worrying about the dance. Enhanced metabolism was one ability she didn't particularly like.

It was still relatively early so the cafeteria was almost empty. There were a few students who were getting breakfast after some early morning training.

The silver-eyed spider grabbed a plate and sat down in silence. Scrolling through the news was a boring affair on most occasions, sometimes there would be reports of stuff that she could help with as Spider-Woman. But most of the time it was just reports of crimes that already happened that she wasn't around for. She couldn't be swinging through the kingdom all the time after all. Despite how much she wanted to.

She should probably get out there pretty soon to help out. She stashed her suit not far from Beacon. Still, web-swinging with a full stomach was a bad idea. But fighting crime while starving was a bad idea too. She should wait a few hours until she headed out.

Ruby popped a strawberry in her mouth and moaned in pleasure when the sweet juices of the fruit coated her tongue and flooded her taste buds.

Ruby's Spider-Sense didn't go off when two hands wrapped around her head and covered her eyes.

"Guess who." A familiar voice sang from behind her.

Ruby smirked. "Is it someone who can tell a half-decent joke?" Ruby tilted her head up and peered into those familiar violet eyes. "Oh. Nope. It's just Yang."

"O-Oi! You're always so mean to me!" Yang sounded heartbroken but Ruby knew better. Yang sat down next to her sister and stole a strawberry from her bowl. Ruby almost bit her hand off right then and there.

Ruby tried to glare menacingly at her sister but Yang just started giggling at Ruby's adorable expression. She wasn't very intimidating.

"You talk to Ozpin yet?" Yang asked, reaching for another strawberry. Ruby smacked her hand away before she could pilfer her favorite food.

"Yeah. I can't tell you what it was about though. Atlas military stuff and all that," Ruby replied, gnawing on a slice of bacon. None of them had asked her to be silent but she could make a reasonable guess that telling anybody would be a bad idea. "You're free to ask General Ironwood though."

"Yeah…" Yang rubbed her sore hand. "I'm good. Thanks."

The rest of her team arrived shortly after. They all ate in relative silence with the occasional small talk about lessons tomorrow or last night's dance. Penny in particular was gushing about how much fun she had. Ruby couldn't remember seeing her once the entire night so she had to wonder what the ginger had been up to.

"How was your night, Ruby?" Yang asked with a teasing smirk. "Did you and Jaune get up to any debauched fun last night? I hope you used protection."

Ruby's cheeks burned as she grabbed a handful of sausage on Yang's plate and shoved all of it into her sister's mouth to silence her. If she was lucky then Yang would choke on it. Ruby quietly kept her eyes on her own plate, trying to cool her burning cheeks.

"Yeah, Jaune. Did you have any debauched fun last night?" Nora Valkyrie's teasing voice ribbed from behind her.

Ruby avoided making eye contact with Jaune, instead finding solace in her fatty breakfast. Yang eventually managed to force her mouthful of sausage down her gullet without choking to death. Bummer.

Team JNPR joined in on the conversation with Nora being the most vocal. She couldn't stop gushing about her wonderful night. Ren inserted himself into the conversation to correct a few details of Nora's recounting of the events of last night. Particularly the part where Nora claimed a horde of Ursa challenged her to a dance-off.

"Jaune is surprisingly skilled on the dance floor," Pyrrha complimented the blonde boy. "I could barely keep up with him."

Ruby wished she was a better dancer so she could've pushed Jaune farther. Dancing wasn't her most pressing concern at the moment, what with Roman Torchwick still at Mt. Glenn.

"Enough about that stupid dance!" Yang slapped her hands on the table. "There are much more important things to discuss right now!"

"You're just saying that because you didn't get a date," Weiss teased the blonde brawler. Yang recoiled as if that comment had physically hurt her.

"Oi! I danced with Ren! That counts!"

"Ren danced circles around you," Nora added.

Yang slumped in her seat and deflated like a sad party balloon. "Missions!" Yang yelled, eager to change the subject. "We're picking our first missions today!"

Penny shot up in her seat like a rocket. "Sensational! Our very first missions as Huntsmen and Huntresses! We have to make sure we're well prepared to fight for our lives!"

Penny sounded way too excited at the thought of imminent death.

"The opportunity to shadow a professional Huntsman or Huntress is one that we should not take for granted," Weiss hummed. "We are very privileged to be able to go on missions during our first year."

Missions, huh? Maybe Ruby would've thought that it would be cooler if she hadn't faced a new mission every single day as Spider-Woman. But the idea of taking on a real mission with a professional Huntress was intriguing.

"Do you have any idea what kind of mission you want to take?" Ruby asked, quirking up an eyebrow.

Blake's bow wiggled a little bit as she thought about it. "I'd like to take a mission that takes us out of the kingdom for a while. Exploring places I've never been before sounds really interesting."

Yang slapped a palm on the table, jostling the cutlery. "Well, I want to take a mission that involves fighting a lot of really strong Grimm!" Yang unfolded Ember Celica from her wrists. "Those monsters won't know what hit 'em!"

"Ugh, you would," Weiss groaned. "Personally, I'd be fine with any mission as long as the Huntsman we're shadowing is high quality. What about you, Penny?"

Penny shot up from her seat. "I'd like to take on a search and rescue mission!" Penny exclaimed excitedly. "I am equipped with first aid equipment and have a wealth of knowledge on human anatomy!"

Penny just got weirder and weirder every day. She was talking about herself as if she was a machine that came built with various Huntress equipment into her body.

Hmm…

"I'd like a search and rescue mission too," Jaune said, excited. "I could use a break from the standard Grimm slaughter but I'd be fine with anything."

"Oh! Oh! Oh! I want to shadow the sheriff of a village!" Nora waved her hands excitedly.

That sounds pretty fun.

Ren nodded in agreement, clearly wanting the same thing.

The two teams chatted excitedly about their missions while Ruby quietly ate her breakfast. It wasn't until her scroll vibrated in her pocket did she stop eating.

The caller ID revealed her boss, J. Jonah Jameson was calling. Ruby quirked an eyebrow, clearly not expecting him to call her on a weekend. She wasn't an official employee though, rather, she was a freelance photographer that simply sold photos of Spider-Woman to him for a quick lien.

Ruby answered the call and held the scroll to her ear. "Hello?"

"Rose! You answered after three rings. I'm a busy man, I don't have time to wait for you to answer your scroll."

Never change Jonah.

"Y-Yes sir. Sorry, I'm in the middle of breakfast." Ruby wiped her mouth clean with her napkin. "Do you need something?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. You're a Huntress right?" Mr. Jameson asked.

Ruby suddenly felt very excited. "Y-Yes! Yes, I am! Well… I'm still in training but I'm plenty capable!" Ruby rushed to reassure him.

"Perfect, come down to the Bugle! I have a very important job for you. I hope you're capable with Grimm." Jonah hung up before she could respond.

This is my moment! Ruby shoveled the rest of her breakfast down her gullet and stood up straight. "I gotta go!" She announced, passionately. "My boss just called. Got an important job to do!"

Ruby gave her sister a big hug. "Bye Yang, love you." Ruby made to dash away before Yang grabbed onto her collar, yanking her back on her butt. "Owie…" Ruby glared adorably at her big sister. "Yang! Lemme go!"

Yang lifted her sister into the air by her collar, dangling her about a foot off the ground. Yang pulled Ruby close to her until their eyes were only a few inches apart.

"Boss!?" Yang yelled to her sister. "You have a job? Since when did you get a job?"

Ruby squirmed in her sister's grip. "A few months ago. I was running low on cash and decided to do some work on the side. Put me down!"

Yang dropped Ruby on her butt. "Really? Why did you never say anything?" Yang questioned. The rest of her team and team JNPR were also looking at her.

"Because I didn't want you charging through my workplace and embarrassing meeeee!" Ruby wailed. She got to her feet, rubbing her now sore behind. "I just needed some money. It's not a big deal."

Yang's eyes seemed to be staring off into nothing. Like she couldn't focus on any one thing. "Oh… Yeah, that sounds like something I'd do," Yang admitted, bashfully. "Where do you work?"

Ruby immediately started shaking her head. "Oh no. Nuh uh. No way. It's bad enough that you embarrass me in front of your entire team and team JNPR, I'm not giving you even more opportunities to embarrass me." Ruby made an X by crossing her arms. "Sorry, not sorry."

Ruby placed her finger on Yang's mouth before she could argue. "It's not full-time work. Heck, it's not even part-time, not really," Ruby sighed. "It doesn't get in the way of my studies or anything else. Seriously, Yang. There's nothing to worry about."

"Anywaygottagobye!" Ruby exploded in a cloud of rose petals and dashed away in the blink of an eye.

"Damn!" Yang cursed. "She's way too fast!"

"Maybe she'd be more inclined to tell you where she worked if she wasn't sure you would embarrass her in front of her coworkers," Blake suggested.

Yang scoffed. "Come on Blakey, I'm her big sister, embarrassing her is my job. Why do you think I keep insinuating she's making out with Boy Wonder over there?" Yang pointed at the boy in question.

Jaune flushed red and buried his face in his arms.

Ruby dashed through Emerald Forest with her Semblance at record speeds, occasionally slicing through some random Grimm that got in her way. She stopped at the rooftop where she stored her Spider-Woman suit and slipped it under her clothes before heading off to the Bugle.

Mr. Jameson said he had a special job for her and asked her about her qualifications as a Huntress. He also said he hoped that she could deal with Grimm. Given that the Bugle had zero employees who had Huntsmen training, she could assume that she was the only one who could do a job like this.

Ruby was pretty confident that her skills would be up to the task. Not just because she was Spider-Woman, but because she knew that she was that good.

Also, considering that she was the only person who worked at the Bugle who also had Huntsmen training, she could also assume that she would make a lot of money with this job.

Ruby rubbed her hands together thinking of all that money.

Ruby flashed her Bugle pass at the receptionist before taking the elevator to the correct floor. Betty was on the scroll by the time she arrived. Betty noticed her and pointed to Jameson's office, not taking her attention away from her call. Ruby got the message and slowly pushed open the door.

Ruby had gotten used to the heavy smell of tobacco that lingered in the stuffy air of Mr. Jameson's office. Though he kept a window open most of the time so it wasn't as bad as it could've been.

"Rose! Perfect, take a seat," Mr. Jameson instructed, reaching into one of his drawers. Ruby took a seat and waited patiently for Mr. Jameson to finish what he was doing.

Ruby peered behind the man and looked out the window. The man had quite the view from this floor. He was pretty lucky to be able to see the city from this height.

His view was nothing compared to her view as Spider-Woman. Being able to see this beautiful kingdom from the tallest skyscrapers and glide through the air like a bird was nothing short of… well… Jaune said it right, it was spectacular.

Spectacular huh? I like the sound of that.

"Alright, Rose. Let's get right down to business. I called you here because you're the only Huntress that works here and I am in need of your skills."

Ruby leaned onto the desk. "I'm listening."

Mr. Jameson locked his fingers together. "To put it simply, we want a lot of pictures of Grimm for a near future issue of the Daily Bugle."

Pictures of Grimm? I guess it makes sense that he called me then. No one else in the building could get up close pictures of Grimm.

Ruby nodded and hummed into her hand. "I see. And you asked me because I'm a Huntress. Why do you need pictures of Grimm?"

Mr. Jameson tapped his desk. "In about a week, we'll be publishing an issue of the Daily Bugle that has an entire section on them. Pictures of the Grimm in question will be printed along with a description of them." His eyes widened slightly as if he just remembered something. "Ah, before I forget. I would also like you to provide descriptions of the Grimm as well, like their attack methods and stuff like that."

That sounded like a good idea to her. There were very detailed images of Grimm on the internet but Jonah obviously didn't want to take a picture that didn't belong to him for fear of copyright infringement.

"I am not forcing you to do this," Jonah made sure to make that point perfectly clear. "I understand that this is a dangerous job and you're not a licensed Huntress yet. If you feel like you can't handle a job like this then no problem."

Ruby shook her head. "No, no. I can definitely handle this. I fight Grimm all the time, taking some pictures of them before taking them out shouldn't be an issue. Do you need specific types of Grimm? Some types are rarer than others and I might not find them."

Mr. Jameson sighed with relief that she said yes. She expected to make a lot of money off this job so of course she said yes. "Yes, actually." Jonah pulled out a small slip of paper from a drawer and handed it to her.

It contained the names of various Grimm species that Jonah wanted pictures of. There were the standard common types like Beowolf, Ursa, and Borbatusk. But he also wanted some pictures of uncommon ones like Death Stalker, Sabyr, and even a Goliath. Ruby's eyes continued to scan the list while Mr. Jameson sat there patiently waiting for her to finish.

Ruby finished reading and nodded to the older man. "Sorry to say this Mr. Jameson, but some of these Grimm are exceptionally rare. I've only ever seen one Goliath in my entire life and it was just a baby. But I can get most of these without a problem."

I might be able to see some of the rarer Grimm when going to Mt. Glenn. I've never been there before but I've heard it's a popular spot for Grimm to congregate.

Mr. Jameson nodded his head in understanding. "I won't pretend to know anything about the Grimm. You're the expert here so I'll just leave it to you."

This was… weird. In any other situation, Mr. Jameson would've just started yelling for whatever reason, but when they were talking about Ruby's job as a Huntress he actually took a backseat. Maybe he had a certain respect for law enforcement and Huntsmen. Which was weird considering his obvious hatred of her alter ego.

Ruby pondered the list. She planned on going to Mt. Glenn tonight to deal with Torchwick. Maybe she could take care of some of these pictures while she was there. She'd need to pack extra batteries for her camera.

"What is the deadline for these photos?" Ruby asked.

"We plan on having the article published one week from today. I was hoping you could get the photos to me by Friday."

Ruby nodded her head. Friday was doable. Even if the Grimm she was looking for weren't at Mt. Glenn there were still plenty of places for her to look. She could easily wander around in the middle of nowhere for a few hours to find some Grimm. She would've never considered doing something like that before she got her powers. Traveling along looking for Grimm to fight was incredibly dangerous without some backup. That's why all Huntsmen academies on Remnant grouped students into teams. Working with multiple trained warriors was just much safer.

With her superpowers though? She would be just fine by herself.

"I can get them to you on Friday," Ruby nodded her head. "You'll have to forgive me if I can't find all of them though."

"I understand," Mr. Jameson reassured her. "You'll be paid well for this job too considering how dangerous it is."

Ruby couldn't suppress her smile. "Thank you, Sir! I'll get started today."

Mr. Jameson pulled out a cigar. "Thank you, Rose. Try to get me more photos of that costumed menace while you're at it."

Ugh… there's the Jonah I know.

Ruby nodded and exited the office before Mr. Jameson could light his cigar. She hated the smell of tobacco even more than alcohol. The fumes were suffocating.

"Hey, Ruby," Betty Bryant greeted, having finished her scroll call. "Got more photos of the spider for us today?"

Ruby approached Betty's cluttered desk. There were various documents and blank checks scattered across her work area. There was also a half-eaten granola bar partially in its wrapper and a coffee that had long since gone cold.

"Not today. Mr. Jameson had a special job for me," Ruby confirmed. "Photos of Spider-Woman will take a backseat until this job is done."

Betty took a sip of her coffee, wincing at its temperature. "A special job you say? Look at you. Only been here a few months and already working your way up the ladder."

Ruby leaned against Betty's desk. "You think so? Maybe I'll be a reporter someday. I have this whole 'Huntress' thing going on though. Maybe I could report on missions I take or something like that."

That might actually be a good idea. Maybe not as a reporter but being a photographer on top of being a Huntress sounds like a good idea. I might even be able to report on new species of Grimm I see.

"What kind of job did he give you?" Betty asked, taking a bite of her granola bar.

Ruby reached into her pocket and pulled out the list of Grimm that Mr. Jameson had given her. "Here." She handed the paper to her. "He wanted me to take pictures of some Grimm for an upcoming article."

Betty's eyes widened as a look of mild panic overtook her features. "G-Grimm? Are you serious?" She snatched the paper from her and gazed over its contents. Her eyes darted across the page with unnatural speed. Betty's eyes looked upward as their gazes met. "Ruby, are you sure about this?"

Ruby tilted her head in confusion. Was taking a few pictures of some Grimm such a big deal? She supposed it would be to any civilian like Betty, but to a Huntress like her, it would be a piece of cake. "I sure am!" Ruby said confidently to ease Betty's nerves. She flexed her arm and rested her hand on her bicep to appear more confident. "Taking pictures of some lousy Grimm is a piece of cake for a Huntress like me!"

This would also be the perfect opportunity to kill some larger Grimm that she had never seen before. Her spider powers would make dispatching any Grimm a walk in the park. Maybe she would finally get to ride a Goliath and cross that off her bucket list.

"I'll be fine, Betty," Ruby tried to reassure the older woman. "I kill Grimm every single week. I don't even need to get too close to them for this job. If things look bad then I'll just use my Semblance and run away."

That seemed to calm Betty down, if only slightly. "Sorry for being paranoid." Betty rubbed her hands together. "I know you're capable and can take care of yourself but I can't help but worry. Maybe it's because I'm a mother that I'm this paranoid."

Ruby could recall times when her own mother was terrified beyond belief when she approached her first Grimm. It took her two hours to be able to fight her own Grimm because her paranoid mother kept running in to deal with the Grimm before Ruby could even get a single attack on it.

Her father was much the same way. He had a hard time letting her fight Grimm on her own too. Having Uncle Qrow teach her how to fight with Crescent Rose was a good way to convince her dad to let her fight.

Even then. It still took a long long time before her dad, Qrow, or even Yang were comfortable enough with her skills to let her fight Grimm without supervision. She was sure it would've been even longer if she didn't have a super cool speed-enhancing Semblance that allowed her to retreat the moment things looked bad. Even when they did let her go off by herself, she had to promise to stay within a certain distance from the house so she wouldn't get lost.

She thought her family was just being overprotective at the time but now she realized that they just loved her so much and were just worried about her. She would probably be the same if she ever had children of her own.

"I didn't know you had kids, Betty," Ruby said, surprised.

Betty smiled softly, almost motherly. "Well, I'm almost there. The bun's still baking if you catch my meaning." Betty looked down to her abdomen and lovingly rubbed her stomach.

Oh!

A wide smile wormed its way onto Ruby's face. Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. "Oh, Congratulations!" Ruby cheered for the soon-to-be mother.

"Shh!" Betty rushed to shush the secret spider. "I haven't announced anything yet. I want it to be a surprise."

Ruby slapped a palm over her mouth. "Sorry," her muffled voice carried through. "I won't tell anyone," Ruby promised. "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl yet?" Ruby couldn't contain her curiosity.

Betty shook her head. "Not yet, I'm not that far along. But my husband is really eager to figure it out. He's always wanted a son. I kind of want a son too."

Ruby brought her palms together with a smile. "Well, I wish you all the happiness in the world. I'll even babysit if you need me to. Oh!" Ruby suddenly looked very excited. "I can teach them to fire an anti-tank rifle and a double-barreled 12 gauge shotgun!"

For some odd reason, Betty didn't seem too thrilled at the idea of giving her baby a deadly high-powered weapon. "Uhh… W-We'll see, Ruby," Betty stuttered, giving Ruby a bit of hope.

"Sweet!" Ruby cheered. She relished the opportunity to impart the exhilarating thrill of destruction through the rapid discharge of lead. "Anyway, congratulations again, Betty. I've gotta split but it was nice seeing you."

"You too, Ruby." Betty gave her a nervous smile and a wave.

Ruby made her way out of the Bugle with some extra pep in her step. It wasn't until she realized that she needed to go to Mt. Glenn did her mood sour slightly. Mt. Glenn was a few weeks hike at least for the average person.

Luckily for her, she was far from average.

Ruby was very very fast. She could run at 300 miles per hour in short bursts but consistently she could run at about 200 miles per hour. That was the same speed as the fastest bullet train in Atlas! Maybe just a little slower.

That wasn't even counting how fast she could go with her Semblance. She calculated her spider speed combined with her Semblance speed a while ago but she was sure to be a bit faster since then.

She doubted she could keep up her Semblance the entire way but using it in short bursts when needed shouldn't be a problem. She would need to ration its use though. She didn't want to exhaust her aura before she even got to Mt. Glenn.

The point was she could reach the destroyed city in under a day if she just ran the entire way. It might even take less than a few short hours to get there. She really just wanted to take a bullhead to avoid the arduous journey but she doubted there would be a single pilot in Vale that would be willing to take her there.

She had school in the morning but it shouldn't be too hard to go there tonight, capture Torchwick, and head back home in time for school. Assuming that nothing unfortunate happened while she was there.

Guess I should pack, Ruby thought to herself. If I'm gonna travel that far then I should have some supplies just in case.

Ruby didn't even finish taking one step before her Spider-Sense went off and the sound of sirens penetrated her ears.

"Give me a break…"

Jaune could remember being absolutely terrified of the creatures of Grimm before enrolling at Beacon Academy. There was a time when he dreaded picking up his sword, knowing one day he would be putting his life on the line to become the hero he always wanted to be. He accepted that risk and wielded his stolen blade regardless.

Which was why it was pretty strange that he felt the most scared he ever felt in his entire life without a single Grimm in sight. His sword wasn't even strapped to his hip. For all intents and purposes, he was completely safe.

So why was he so scared? Well, it was because an Arc never goes back on their word, and he made a promise to a certain beautiful silver-eyed girl that he would call his family to let them know how he was doing. Facing his family after what he did terrified him to no end. What Ruby said last night however stuck with him in ways he didn't expect. Despite his fear, he knew he needed to call them. If something ever happened to him – or god forbid, them – without him ever making contact with his family, he would never forgive himself.

He missed his sisters dearly. He hasn't seen Saphron in a few years after she moved to Argus to start a family but he used to talk to her quite often. He would have to give her a call sometime soon as well.

He missed being teased by his older twin sisters, Coral and Sable. He missed watching crappy action movies with Jade. He missed all those loving and encouraging words from Hazel. He missed drawing with Lavender. He missed playing with Amber. He missed his mother's loving smile. He even missed his father's stories about his younger days. He could still remember the looks on his family's faces the day before he stole Crocea Mors and left. They had been none the wiser. He could even remember his mother promising to make pancakes the next morning and the excited cheers from his sisters.

A single drop of a clear liquid lightly splashed onto the concrete below Jaune's feet. This drop was quickly followed by another, then another, then another. Tears trailed down Jaune's face as he remembered his family. The ones he loved more than anyone else in the world. He just left them without a single word. He stole from them, lied to them, betrayed them, and ran away when things didn't go his way.

"Dammit…" Jaune choked on his words in between sobs. "How could I have been so stupid?" He clenched his fists hard enough for his aura to spark. "What the hell was I thinking?" Jaune used his sleeve in an attempt to clear his cheeks of tears. "How can I call myself a Huntsman for making my family worry so much? How can I even call myself a man?"

He was the scum of Remnant. There was no forgiving himself for what he did. The only way to move forward was to rectify his mistakes.

Jaune was incredibly lucky that his home village was close enough to Beacon that he didn't need the CCT in order to contact his family. With the whole incident last night, there was no way he would be allowed inside. The CCT was mainly used to contact people who were in different kingdoms. But it was also used to contact people in villages that were farther away from the big city. Luckily, his family was close enough that he could call them.

He had to ditch his own scroll when he ran away, fearing that his family would use it to track him down. Luckily, Beacon issued scrolls to all their students when they enrolled. Even more luckily, Jaune still remembered his mother's scroll number by heart.

He decided the best place to call his family was on the rooftop where he normally trained with Pyrrha. It was away from the rest of the student body and students rarely came up here. It should give him a decent amount of privacy.

He stared at his scroll for a good three minutes before powering it on and dialing his mother's number. His heart rate felt like it doubled in intensity with every passing second.

There's no going back now, Jaune thought to himself. I need to do this.

Jaune brought his scroll to his ear as he dialed the last number. The distinct click followed by rhythmic ringing told him that his call had connected without issue. All that was left was to wait for an answer.

He debated writing a script so he would know what to say but decided that it would just be better to say what came to mind at the moment. He owed it to his family. His scroll rang for a good 20 seconds and he briefly thought that he wouldn't get an answer.

"Hello."

He would recognize that voice anywhere. He could never forget the voice of the woman who raised him. He could feel himself tearing up again. Jaune decided to speak up before he could lose his nerve. "H-Hello…" It was barely a whisper. Jaune couldn't even hear himself speak that one word.

"Hmm? Who is this?" His mother asked, confused.

Jaune took a deep breath, shuddering in the process. "Hello…" He said again, louder this time. "M-Mom."

Something shattered on the other end of the scroll while several concerned voices called out to the mother of the Arc household. He could hear his mother's trembling breathing through the scroll. "J-Jaune?" His mother whispered. The shocked gasps of his siblings could clearly be heard.

"Yeah, Mom. It's me."

"Jaune!" His mother screamed with euphoria. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay?!"

"Y-Yes, mom. I'm okay. Better than okay, actually. I'm doing great." Jaune added that last bit to ease her worries even further. He promised himself he wouldn't worry his family like that ever again.

Various voices became a jumbled mess at that point. Jaune could tell that his mother had put him on speaker so he could talk to all his sisters. They threw so many words at him that he couldn't understand a thing anyone was saying. It took a few minutes for everyone to calm down enough so he could actually understand what everyone was saying.

"Where have you been?!"

"Why did you leave?!"

"Still a virgin?"

"You still owe me 20 lien!"

"Can I have your room?!"

"I found your porn! Good stuff."

Glad to hear nothing's changed. His sisters still teased him like it was their job.

His mother's voice came to the forefront when all his sisters quieted down. "Jaune! Where the hell are you?!"

He knew that question was coming. It was also the question he dreaded the most. "I-I'm in Vale, the big city," he answered honestly. "I got accepted into Beacon and am on my way to becoming a professional Huntsman."

He knew the reaction to his words wouldn't be what he was hoping for. He waited with bated breath for the inevitable onslaught of profanities and worrying words.

He didn't have to wait long.

Once again, he couldn't really understand what his family was saying. The words just got jumbled together to the point where he couldn't understand a single thing in the tsunami of angry comments. He waited patiently for his sisters to run out of breath so he could at least understand his mother.

"Jaune Nicholas Arc! What the hell are you thinking?" His mother cried. "You have absolutely zero combat training! How could having zero qualifications get you into Beacon?! There's no way your transcripts could've… c-could've…" It took a few seconds for his mother to put the pieces together. "You… forged your transcripts." It wasn't a question, but rather a statement of fact.

"Yes," Jaune didn't even try to deny it. Lying in this situation would only make everything even worse for him. "I had no choice. Dad refused to train me every time I asked him and there are no other able Huntsmen in our village. What else could I have done?"

"You could've stayed home!" His mother yelled. "You could've stayed home and gotten a safe job here in the village. It's safe here with your father protecting us! Why do you need to become a Huntsman?"

That was a question that Jaune had asked himself countless times. At first, his answer would've been because he wanted to be a hero like his father. While that was still the case, it was more than that now. A certain silver-eyed girl had given him a new perspective. Now, it was more than just being like his father. It was about protecting as many people as possible.

"Because… someone who I admire told me something that has continued to stick with me. She told me that with great power, there must also come great responsibility," Jaune relayed the same words that Ruby Rose had bestowed upon him. "She believed in me. But it was more than that. She unlocked my aura, trained me, and continues to support me even now. She was the only one." Jaune added that last part just in case his father was listening. "It's not just about me anymore. There are so many people who are counting on me to get stronger. I'm even the leader of my team," Jaune said, much to the shock of his sisters.

"You can't stop me. Not anymore," Jaune's voice was firm. "I'm going to be a Huntsman one way or another. I hope you can accept that. The only question is whether or not you are here to support me too." Jaune was thankful that his family couldn't see him, otherwise they would see him sweating bullets waiting for their response. Surprisingly, it wasn't his mother that responded, nor was it one of his six sisters that were home.

"Jaune," A gravely masculine voice spoke up for the first time. Jaune recognized that voice immediately.

"Dad."

His father, Nicholas Arc, sighed deeply. Almost as if he was expecting to have this conversation. "I will not allow my only son to throw his life away for nothing," he spoke firmly. "I will not all you to be another footnote in the history books, nor another name in the obituaries."

Jaune grit his teeth to prevent himself from yelling out at his father. He also relaxed his hand to prevent himself from crushing his scroll. "And I will not allow all this hard work to go to waste. I will not let down my team who are relying on their leader. I will not betray the trust of all those who believe in me. That's my final choice."

There, he said it. He said what he needed to say and if his family didn't accept it, then too bad so sad. They would have to live with it. There was nothing but silence for a few seconds until his father responded.

"We're coming to Vale. All of us."

A massive spike of panic stabbed into Jaune's spine. If they all came to Vale, then they would certainly try to forcibly bring him home. They would ruin everything he worked so hard for!

He couldn't let that happen!

"You've already heard my answer, father. I'm not coming home until I make something of myself."

Nicholas Arc grunted. "I'll ascertain for myself whether or not you deserve your placement in Beacon."

"I passed the practical exam without issue," Jaune reminded his father. "I'm keeping my grades up and getting stronger every day. The fact that I haven't been expelled yet is proof of that. My team and I just chose our first missions as well. We leave first thing tomorrow."

"You only got to take the practical exam because you forged your transcripts. At most, you had maybe a little over a month of training when you took it. I also bet you had to rely on the strength of your team to pass."

"Yeah, that's what a team is, Father. We all support each other and watch each other's back."

"And you're sure you're not holding your team back?"

Jaune didn't answer immediately. His father picked up on it.

"I thought so," he sighed. "Son, I'm not against you wanting to be something more than you already are, but I won't stand by while my son risks his life. I can protect us from any threat."

That was it, wasn't it? His father would not accept him unless he saw for himself how far he had come. "Alright then. I'm not the weak pathetic Jaune Arc I used to be. I'm strong now and I'll prove it to you. You want to drag me home so bad? The only way you're going to bring me home is if you kill me and drag my rotting carcass with you. I'll hold on until my last breath. This is a promise, and an Arc never goes back on his word."

Jaune hung up the call without another word.

…

…

…

"...what the hell did I just do?"

"Hey Ruby, I have to leave Patch for a few days. I got some super important and super cool Huntsman business to take care of. Anyway, I'm sending Zwei to Yang for a few days as punishment for the incident on the highway. There's some money on top of the fridge just in case. See you in a few days!"

"P.S. You better not bring that "Jaune" boy over or else I'll castrate him for defiling you!"

"Love, Dad."

Well then. Looks like the problem of going to Mt. Glenn without alerting her father wasn't going to be much of a problem anymore. Where her father went, she had no idea. She also had no idea how he got Zwei to Yang considering Ruby was just at Beacon. She had a feeling she didn't want to know.

Ruby tossed the note to the side and flopped face-first onto the couch while she began to contemplate her next course of action. She needed to get to Mt. Glenn as soon as possible to deal with Torchwick. Her Spider-Sense buzzed just thinking about him.

Her plan for getting there was just to run as long as she possibly could. She couldn't get a bullhead to bring her so she didn't have much of a choice in the matter. At least she was fast.

Ruby fingered the folded-up web shooters resting on her wrists. She had a few upgrades that weren't quite finished yet. She wished she could've tested them at Mt. Glenn. Another time, I suppose.

Ruby flipped herself off the couch and landed gracefully on her feet. Now wasn't the time to relax. She had to get ready for Mt. Glenn.

Ruby pulled her utility belt off from under her clothes and checked the pockets. She still had a few protein bars left over but it might be a good idea to restock.

"Let's see. I need some food, extra dust for my web shooters, my foldable water bottle, some water dust, and my scroll. Oh! I also need my camera."

Ruby began stuffing her utility belt with all the necessary items for her journey. She didn't intend to be gone for long, two days at the absolute limit. Less than a day was more likely. All she needed to do was go there, beat the hell out of Torchwick, and come home with the criminal in tow. Easy peasy.

Ruby glanced out the window. She had already spent a few hours in the city helping out as Spider-Woman. The sun would be setting by the time she reached Mt. Glenn. She might have to catch a few hours of sleep while she was there before confronting the criminal.

Ruby finished her last-minute preparations before clipping her utility belt back on and clipping her filled web shooters back into place. She took one last look at her house before dashing out of the door.

"Get ready, Torchwick. I'm ending this."

AN: Can't believe you're still reading this.

I will say this though. Despite my god-awful writing, I think the next chapter is my best work yet. I don't think my writing is very good but I'm very proud of chapter 26 at the very least. Look forward to that.

I need to spend more time writing but I'm playing too much Marvel Rivals XD.

Review if you want.

Or don't.

I don't really care.