I felt something shift and I couldn't tell if it was inside me or around me. I couldn't feel searing heat or pain, so I had to assume that either I had powered up enough to survive the sun's expansion or my power to planeswalk had activated on its own.

Why did I do it that way? Because if I used the Ultimate King piece and tried to do it manually and it didn't work, I would have been devastated emotionally and probably died. I felt that it was much better to leave the whole thing up to fate and let the odds of survival play out without my influence.

The pressure around me suddenly rose and it was both oppressive and comforting, which was a weird feeling. I couldn't resist the urge anymore and slowly opened my eyes... and was blinded by the light, as if I had used Superman's heat vision and melted my eyeballs.

Goddammit, that fucking hurt! I thought and kept cursing in my head as I floated there for several minutes as my eyes healed. It wasn't until my eyes inflated and filled the sockets that I realized I hadn't cast any magic spells to heal myself and my Prismatic Regeneration had activated automatically. It was also supercharged and had healed the damage in record time.

I would need to watch for that or it could give me away if I wasn't careful. I could also feel the various powers within myself, a mix of everything I had access to, and they synchronized into a cohesive whole that was nearly complete and only lacking a certain something. I had a few new options with my powers that I never had before and it felt wonderful!

Thanks to the Ultimate King Piece essentially reformatting me and fixing most of my problems, I had the feeling that I was very close to being back to my old self. My inherent powers seemed to be a single step or two away from being complete and I felt a deep longing to keep searching for them.

The bad part about that was the more I wanted something, the further away my travel powers would send me from it, so had to fight down my desperate desire and pushed it aside to concentrate on what was in front of me.

I put on a pair of sunglasses, enchanted them to reflect 90% of the light, and slowly opened my eyes. I couldn't see anything and laughed, because what I blocked out was the visible light and only let the non-visible light through. I changed the enchantment slowly, decreasing the percentage over the next few minutes, and I caught my breath as I stared at what was there in front of me, near me, and all around me.

It was an Abundance of Different Universes and their Vast Eternities.

Without a second thought, I stored my sunglasses and the bright light seared my retinas. I floated there as my eyes adjusted to the intense light bombardment and healed as the damaged parts regrew several times. When it was done and I could see normally, I wasn't sure how I could see it all. I only had eyes in the front of my head; and yet, I could see to the sides and behind me at the same time.

Was this some new detection ability I didn't know I had? Was this some of the King Piece's programming mixed with the truncated Heaven System that allowed me a brief touch of omnipotence, or was it just an extrasensory perception? In the end, it didn't really matter. I could see everything around me. Everything.

Even with my powerful mind and millennium after millennium of practice storing hundreds of thousands of memories in each of my Halls of Memory, I still couldn't decipher more than a fraction of what was in front of me.

I floated there for a very long time, maybe even an eon, and I still couldn't make sense of more than half of it. I did discern something that was very concerning, however. There were about the same number of dark spots covering things as there were the ones I could see, and only that limited amount of light had instantly destroyed my eyes. What would seeing all of it do to me?

As I floated there and stared at what I could perceive, I started to make out patterns. It was odd and fascinating at the same time, because how the hell would I know what patterns to look for when staring at an endless expanse of universes with about half of what I could see being covered in dark spots?

I could also feel the malignant remains of death in some of the darkest spots. When I concentrated on a few of them, I could tell that some of them leaked over into the nearby realities that were adjacent to them. It was almost like those dark spots were... were... oh, dear lord.

They were gone.

Those weren't dark spots covering things at all. Those spots were those things! Whatever had been in those spots, whatever universes or realities that had existed in them, no longer existed.

As I floated there, I wondered what had happened to them. Usually when a universe ended, imploding after exhausting all of its energy from expansion, it caused a massive collapse of all matter in that universe. The impact usually caused another nuclear fusion explosion and another big bang happened and formed the building blocks of another universe.

When that happened, it was not supposed to leave a dark hole in reality. Was something consuming them somehow or just erasing them from existence?

I tried to use my power to reach for one of the dark spots and felt a barrier there. It wasn't solid, since I wasn't actually touching it, and that just confused me. What the hell happened to cause so many dark spots and why couldn't I see what had happened or pop in to check? Why was I being blocked so effectively? Who or what was blocking me? What the hell was going on?

I closed my eyes and floated there in the midst of the glows from various eternities and thought about things. I knew there were others like me, Gloria being the prime example, and it made me wonder what the odds were that I would meet another planeswalker. Since I didn't know the rules, or in my case the truncated rules of restrictions, I had no outside knowledge to measure things by.

Was I supposed to be alone in this section of whatever this was? Was this a multiverse? An omniverse? A singularity? Was I the goldfish inside a fish bowl or a salmon in a stream? If it was the former, who was taking care of my bowl? If it was the latter, how many other salmon where there and was a bear hunting me?

I shook my head and let those thoughts fade and opened my eyes again. They had adapted to the energies and wavelengths of the light I could perceive and I spent more time examining the realities spread out around me. I focused primarily on the ones I could see and tried to ignore the dark spots, except I wasn't successful. I couldn't stop myself from seeing the bleed over from them.

One in particular seemed to stand out more than the others, almost calling out to me, and I concentrated on that. The bleed over was thicker and more pronounced than the others around it and I wondered what was going on. My power reached out and touched the tainted universe and I gasped as some information flooded into my mind.

I knew this story. This world. These characters. These people. I also knew what was happening because of the corruption. It was infecting the universe and making the main planet there into a death world that was full of despair and hopelessness.

Once the living population was dead, I somehow knew that the corruption would start to consume everything, harvesting it all for whatever reason, and it would eventually become another dark spot that I couldn't get into.

That was a worrying thought and I tried to divert my attention away from it and did a quick check of everything else I could feel around me. Yes, the one I examined was seemingly the worst off and I felt like I needed to do something, as well as whatever I felt was calling to me.

The problem I had was that I wasn't sure if I could do anything to stem the flow, since I wasn't sure how to fight off whatever that corruption was. Could I do anything to stop it? I didn't know. What I did know was that I now had the ability to choose where I wanted to go and I wasn't going to waste it.

Using my power to adjust myself for insertion, I could feel different things as my powers changed my body to fit into the world safely and without causing too many ripples. I concentrated on the corrupted universe that was my target and I willed myself to go inside for the first time in forever.

It was time to make it or break it and I would do everything I could to make it.

*

Ruby Rose was minding her own business inside one of her favorite stores to hang out in, From Dust Til Dawn, when some jerk interrupted her browsing the latest Weapons of the World magazine. He even threatened to rob her! She wasn't going to stand for that and taught him a lesson. A dropkick to the face for the win! That plate glass window was insured, wasn't it?

Of course, his criminal buddies didn't appreciate their friend being taught to respect a girl's personal space. They also objected to her method and the lesson continued in the street when their smarmy boss ordered them to 'get her'.

He was also a jerk with his fancy suit and gun cane, with his fancy hair styled to cover one of his eyes under his hat. The heavy eyeliner around the other eye made him look foolish, too. That was a girl only thing to get attention and he wasn't allowed to steal their tricks!

Ruby deployed her custom made scythe gun combo weapon named Crescent Rose and dodged most of the bullets the henchmen fired at her. They were terrible shots with normal guns and she only had to deflect two of the bullets with the side of her scythe.

More kicks to faces were needed to be dished out and Ruby easily delivered them with a smile on her face. Her own Semblance for movement left rose petals in her wake as she dashed around the street and delivered justice to their teeth with her boot heels. It was almost too easy with how quickly the grunts fell to her righteous indignation.

The leader of the gang sighed as the men he hired fell and landed at his feet. “Yes, you were well worth the money to hire you. Truly.” He said sarcastically as he stepped over them and out into the street. “Well Red, I'd say it's been an eventful evening. As much as I would like to stick around...” He aimed at her with his cane gun. “...I'm afraid this is where we part ways.”

Ruby braced and used her own rifle to shoot the ground and dodged his explosive shot by flying up into the air, did several flips, and landed in the three point superhero pose... to no response. The gang leader had run away! She turned on the spot to look for his retreating figure and saw him climbing the fire escape of a nearby building.

She wasn't going to let him get away that easily and used her Semblance and her rifle again to boost her speed and flew over and up the side of the building in only a few moments and land on the roof with a swoosh of rose petals behind her. She saw the guy was across the roof already and stood near the other side for some reason.

“HEY! Where do you think you're going?” Ruby asked and posed with her scythe at the ready. There was no fire escape on that side, so she knew she had him cornered and postured like all good huntresses did when they caught their prey.

The gang leader sighed and didn't turn around. “Persistent, aren't you?”

Ruby tightened her grip on her weapon and narrowed her eyes at him, then a whooshing sound of dust powered engines filled the air and a Bullhead transport plane rose up from the alley in front of the gang leader. The side cargo hatch opened up and he climbed inside before he turned to face her with a large Fire Dust crystal in his hand.

“It's the end of the line for you, Red!” The criminal shouted and threw the crystal at her. Just as it landed and skidded to a stop near Ruby, he aimed at it with his cane gun and fired.

*WHABOOM!*

“Woo-hoo-hooo!” The gang leader shouted at so easily defeating her, then the fiery explosion faded away and he squinted his eyes at what it revealed. “No.”

In front of Ruby was a glowing purple shield and behind that stood a beautiful and statuesque woman with blonde hair in a stylish bun. She wore an outfit more suited to a business meeting, a fancy blouse and skirt combo, part of a corset, a cape for some reason, and glasses.

The blonde woman let out a soft hum before she waved her riding crop, the shield dropped, and several purple beams of energy were created and flew towards the airship. They hit it in several places and rocked it in the air as the engines strained.

“Dammit, we got a huntress!” The smarmy man shouted as he tried to keep his balance and stay on his feet in the cargo area.

The pilot, a dark-haired woman wearing a red dress with a fire motif on it, let the controls go and stood. The gang leader dove for them to keep control of the craft and righted them as he took over flying the thing. The woman didn't speak and went to the cargo hatch to look out at the situation with her own eyes.

The blonde huntress wasn't idle and charged up something, then fired above the craft as a clap of thunder sounded and a storm cloud quickly formed.

“What the hell?” The gang leader asked as the blonde huntress swiped her crop again and dozens of ice shards flew out of the cloud and battered against the airship's hull and damaged it in several places.

The woman in the back of the airship formed a ball of fire in her hand and aimed for the huntress, whom had plenty of time to form a barrier shield and blocked the fireball. The dark-haired woman did several hand gestures and the blonde huntress felt a searing heat form below her as the roof lit up under her feet.

The blonde huntress jumped backwards to cover Ruby as part of the roof exploded into flaming shards in front of them. She waved her crop again and froze the shards in mid-air, swirled them around with a gesture, and formed a large ice spike with them. She shot it at the airship and the dark-haired woman shot most of it down with multiple smaller fireballs.

The huntress changed tactics and formed the remaining ice shards into a smaller ice spike and shot it at the Bullhead instead, only for the armor to be too thick for it to matter. She swirled her crop again and formed ribbons of ice shards around it, hoping to grind the armor down, only for the woman in the red dress to form a burning shield and blew the ice shards away.

Before the blonde huntress could capitalize on the opening, Ruby formed her scythe into her assault rifle form and started firing. The dark-haired woman somehow held her hand up and easily blocked each shot, surprising both Ruby and the blonde huntress.

After another elaborate gesture by the dark-haired woman, five large glowing areas of searing heat appeared on the roof below the blonde huntress and Ruby. The huntress swiped her crop at the girl to push her out of the way and dove to the side herself as a majority of the roof exploded.

“They're getting away!” Ruby shouted after she rolled to a stop. She had seen the cargo hatch close and the airship started to move away. A second later, she gasped when a bright blue energy bolt streaked between her and the blonde huntress and slammed into the left engine of the airship.

*BOOOM!*

The engine blew apart and disintegrated the wing it was attached to. The Bullhead's other engine whined dangerously as the airship whipped around in a corkscrew pattern with only one source of lift, spinning the airship several times as it lost altitude and careened uncontrollably down the street.

It hit and bounced once, then it landed and skidded on its roof down the street and crashed into a storefront, crushing the cockpit and the building partially collapsed onto the thing and compressed the hull. Thankfully, the other engine didn't explode or caused more damage before it automatically shut down.

“Owwww.” A male voice groaned nearby.

Both Ruby and the blonde huntress quickly turned around to see a young man that looked heavily burned as he lay near the last explosion on the roof that fire-casting woman had used against them. He also cradled a large grey metal rifle in his arms that neither of them recognized.

“Oh, my gosh!” Ruby exclaimed and rushed over to him and knelt beside him, her eyes only on the odd thing he held in his hands. “What kind of weapon is that? What kind of Dust does it use? Where did you get it? Is it custom made? Did you make it?”

The blonde huntress walked over to him as well. “Ignore her for now, young man. Are you alright?”

“No, I'm an idiot.” He complained and hugged the gun with slightly charred hands.

Ruby giggled. “The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.”

The guy couldn't help himself and laughed. It pulled on things that shouldn't be pulled on, though. “Oww, owwww. Don't make me laugh.” He said and did not explain that he forgot to adjust how he travelled before arriving. Then again, using a big enough explosion for him to come through had put him right at the best time to insert into the timeline without causing a huge impact and giving himself away as a traveller.

“I'm sorry.” Ruby said and lightly touched his shoulder to offer support.

“That's okay. It was a good joke.” He said and she nodded. “I'm John. John Hansen.”

“It's nice to meet you, Mister Hansen. Can you tell us why you aren't healing?” The blonde huntress asked as she observed him and her gaze changed to a glare for some reason.

“I don't have... owww... my Aura unlocked yet.” John said and both Ruby and the huntress gasped. He did not say he was suppressing his own innate healing on purpose, just for that reason.

The huntress gave his slightly burned body another quick visual examination. “You're going to need urgent medical care, if that's the case. Those burns need to be treated quickly or you could suffer infection and possibly lose several body parts.”

John tried to not sigh and couldn't stop himself as he did. “Can you unlock my Aura for me?”

Ruby gasped again and the huntress gave him an even stronger glare.

“Asking for that is a very intimate thing for someone to share.” The huntress said, her voice grave.

“I know.” John responded and he took several short breaths before his bright blue eyes locked onto hers. “Please... grant me the honor... of forming a personal connection with you.”

The huntress blushed slightly at his request. “How can you ask that? You don't even know me.”

John smiled as best as he could with his slightly burned face. “Who on this world wouldn't recognize the beautiful and prodigious Glynda Goodwitch, the Deputy Headmistress of Beacon Academy?”

Glynda's blush increased and missed Ruby's soft gasp and admiring eyes. “You are well read to use such a big word to describe how impressive I am.”

John chuckled and then groaned. “Owww... please don't make me laugh.” He said and took another short breath and let it out. “I wouldn't ask... if it wasn't important. I wanted to apply to Beacon... and I can handle myself without Aura... but, I... I would rather have both the extra protection and being able to get closer to you as time permits.”

Glynda's glare came right back as she stared at him. “You are nowhere near old enough for me to consider you in that way, young man. What are you, barely 17?”

John smiled again and winced when part of his lip cracked and split painfully. “There's an old saying. The age difference might matter right now; but, in a few years, no one will care.”

Glynda blushed again and looked away. Ruby blushed as well, because she knew it could apply to her, too.

“My dear Mistress Goodwitch, please bestow your blessing and your trust upon this tainted mortal soul.” John said, quite formally, and both Ruby and Glynda stiffened. “I vow to use my abilities to protect humanity as much as I can until I leave this world.”

“Oh, my gosh.” Ruby whispered, her face really red as her hand on his shoulder gripped him tightly. “How can you promise something so grand as that?”

Glynda looked back at John and her glare was much softer after hearing his words. “Do you understand what making that pledge to me means?”

John nodded and winced again at cracking more of his burned skin. “I'm not from anywhere near Vale, so I have no records of schooling or anything else of my life. I made my way here when I saw...” He paused as if thinking about what to say. “I want to... no, I need to give people hope. They have to know to never give up and I will do everything I can to start protecting them from the Grimm.”

Glynda couldn't ignore such an impassioned plea and knelt on his other side to look into his eyes. She had to fight to not get lost in his bright blue eyes as their gazes locked briefly. Her thoughts that his face was quite handsome, even slightly charred as it was, made her blush slightly.

Resolve filled her and Glynda didn't hesitate as she reached down to cup the side of his slightly burned face. She also couldn't help but smile at the look of longing he had at her touch. Was it for her or for what she was about to do? It didn't really matter to her heart as it beat faster in response.

“For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory, to rise above all.” Glynda said, her voice sultry and her Aura glow comforting as it encompassed him. She placed her other hand above his heart and continued to inject her Aura into him to force his own Aura into awakening. “Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release... your soul.”

A bright golden glow burst forth from him and Glynda and Ruby gasped as it covered the both of them. The sheer power of it was unlike anything they had ever seen or felt before. It also felt like a warm hug and made certain parts of them react in a particular way.

“And by my shoulder, protect thee.” Glynda finished the oath and her Aura suddenly dropped to almost nothing and the golden glow around John went bright for a moment and then faded, too.

Glynda felt faint and her eyes fluttered as strong hands caught her before she could fall over. She blinked her eyes at what she could see, because the burned and slightly charred young man before her had been instantly and completely healed. His short wavy blond hair really brought out his bright blue eyes and she could see that they were full of joy and happiness.

“Thank you. Thank you very much, Mistress Goodwitch.” John's deep sexy voice said as his strong arms eased her down onto his chest and he hugged her close.

Glynda couldn't help it as she blushed, because she wanted him to hold her like this for as long as he could and she wanted to hear him talk forever, which was very odd thought for her to have. Unlocking his Aura had taken nearly all of her own energy and her normal emotional defenses were apparently extremely low at the moment.

“I knew having my Aura unlocked would change things, I just didn't think... I didn't understand...” John's words trailed off into nothing and one of his hands pet her head like she was a child.

It was surprisingly comforting for Glynda and gave her a feeling of contentment that she was surprisingly okay with. Who was this young man and why was he affecting her like this?

“Will you allow me to share my energy with you in return?” John asked her.

Glynda nodded without thinking about what that meant or what was going to happen. John's Aura burst forth with a golden glow once more and it flowed around her and hugged her like a long lost lover and was much stronger feeling than when it had been unlocked. She let out a fairly indecent moan as his Aura touched her all over and more intimately than anything else ever had.

John's immensely strong energy filled her up in a very sensual way, giving her a very nice and quite unexpected orgasm. Glynda's own Aura burst forth with a resurgence she had only experienced once before, when it had been first unlocked a very long time ago, and her breathing became heavy as well. Her Aura seemed to be a little bit stronger and brighter, too.

“Huuummmm.” Ruby's voice moaned from beside them.

Both John and Glynda turned their heads to the right and saw the teenager on her back and her own Aura was brighter and stronger. She had one hand under her skirt and buried deep between her legs, her thighs locked together, and her other hand had locked onto his shoulder and didn't look like it was ever going to let go.

“OHHhhhhHHHHH!” Ruby loudly moaned and collapsed on the roof, her breathing just as heavy as Glynda's. The look of pleasure on her face had unnecessarily confirmed what she had just finished doing as she lost conscious and started lightly snoring.

Glynda sat up and glared down at John, knowing he was responsible, because she had orgasmed from feeling his energy as well.

“Um... oops.” John whispered, sheepishly. “To be fair, I forgot she was still touching my shoulder when I started sharing my Aura with you.”

Glynda sighed and shook her head at him, unable to be angry for more than a moment over the mistake, and stood up. To her surprise, she no longer felt any of her old injuries or any aches and pains she had suffered from for years. Her eyes went to his, as if asking the question as to why, and he smirked at her. Smirked! She raised her riding crop and pointed it threateningly at his face.

“Right, right. No ego stroking until later.” John said and sat up, Ruby's hand still locked to his shoulder. “I'll take care of her while you go and try to find out who escaped from the downed airship.”

Glynda couldn't stop herself from staring as the remains of his burned clothes pretty much fell off of him and left him completely naked. Her eyes dropped to where she had to look, because it was right there, and she wasn't surprised that he was fully erect. Her hand moved before she could consciously stop it and the end of her riding crop lightly slapped against the firm shaft, making him gasp and his whole body stiffened.

“Cover yourself up first.” Glynda ordered and moved the crop away, only to cup the end of the crop with her other hand and held it tightly, because she had barely managed to stop herself from sniffing it or licking it. Goodness gracious, what was wrong with her? She was acting like a horny teenager and it was very unbecoming for a woman as high class as her.

John looked down at himself and his face went a little red at being so exposed. A moment later, he wore a similar outfit as before with nice black dress pants and a button-up white shirt. He nodded to her in thanks for reminding him to stay decent in public and he turned to Ruby and started to put her clothes back in order. Making Ruby decent before waking her, was the correct choice in Glynda's opinion.

Glynda nodded and ran to the edge of the roof and leapt off without hesitation. She was sure that the gang leader and that fire woman would still be trying to dig their way out of the wreckage. It had only been a few minutes since it happened, despite it feeling like a lot more time than that had passed. She used her telekinesis Semblance to safely glide down to the street below and strode over to the wreckage.

It took her a few moments to move some of the building bricks aside to get to the cargo hatch and she blasted it open. She covered her mouth when she saw that the crushed area in the back had caught an arm and a leg on the dark-haired woman and crushed part of her torso.

Her Aura must have held out just long enough to not let her die right away, since the metal and bricks were distorted and spread out slightly. It had only delayed things briefly, however. She had bled out quickly with so much damage and with no way to escape or to deal with her wounds.

Glynda knelt and closed the dead woman's eyes, whom she now recognized as the infamous criminal named Cinder Fall. She walked towards the cockpit entrance, only to see there was no cockpit and a severed arm was on the floor and blood was splattered everywhere.

At least it had been a quick death. Glynda thought and stepped out of the wrecked airship and formed an ice wall to cover the cargo hatch and took out her Scroll to call her boss Ozpin and the police.

They needed to get this mess cleaned up and to call rescue and recovery services to help any people that lived in the partially collapsed building. As she talked, she heard someone approaching and braced herself as she aimed her riding crop at the noise.

“It's me, John Hansen.” John said as he stepped around the end of the airship into view with an asleep Ruby held in his arms in a princess carry.

Glynda nodded and kept talking to Ozpin over the video chat about potential casualties and rescuing as many as they could before the rest of the building collapsed.

“There's no need to worry about that, the building's empty.” John said and carefully balanced Ruby with one arm as he walked over to the building and placed his other hand on it.

“How do you know that?” Ozpin asked before Glynda could.

“There are no life signs inside.” John said and his hand glowed gold.

To Glynda's and Ozpin's shock, the entire building, rubble and all, glowed the same color and the rubble kind of melted together and it flowed over and up to reform the building into what it had been before the airship crashed into it. It even pushed the wreckage out and the storefront repaired itself in about 10 seconds.

“I'm just glad my hasty shot was good enough to aim the damaged ship this way.” John said and held Ruby with both arms again as he looked at the mostly crushed Bullhead. His eyes widened slightly at seeing the non-existent cockpit and the blood splatter. “They didn't get away like I thought they did, did they?”

Glynda didn't verbally respond and only shook her head.

John had a resigned and sad look on his face as he closed his eyes. “I'm sorry, I didn't intend...”

Glynda's hand reached out and touched his shoulder. “We know.”

John opened his eyes and the sad look stayed on his face. “It was my fault they died, so I'll accept any punishment you deem appropriate.”

Both Glynda and Ozpin were quiet for several seconds.

“It was an accident, despite your intention to bring the airship down.” Glynda said and her grip on his shoulder tightened. “We will be having a lengthy discussion about using appropriate force in certain situations in the future.”

Ozpin chuckled at John's sigh. “Glynda, go with them to the precinct on Seventh to file your reports about this incident and I'll meet you there.”

“Yes, sir.” Glynda said and ended the call.

“I'm not going to be in trouble for this?” John asked, slightly confused.

Glynda tilted her head slightly as she gazed into his eyes. “Do you want to be?”

John opened his mouth and closed it, then tried again with a guilty look on his face. “I don't know. Shouldn't I be? I know they were criminals; but, they're still dead and...”

Glynda stepped as close as she could with Ruby in the way. “There is such a thing as accepting too much responsibility, John.” She said and didn't explain that she saw the same expression on Ozpin's face nearly every day. That man carried the weight of the entire world on his shoulders and she did her best to try and help him as much as she could. Well, as much as he would let her, anyway.

John's expression softened. “I admit I do have a problem with that.”

Glynda had to smile, because she remembered Ruby saying that after John called himself an idiot.

Two police cars pulled up close to the crashed airship with no sirens blaring, since there wasn't an emergency or a crime in progress.

“Miss Goodwitch?” One of the officers asked when the four men stepped out of their cars.

Glynda nodded in answer to his question.

“I was asked to escort you and your charges to the precinct.” The man said and waved to his car. His partner went to the other two officers and they dispersed to spread police tape around the downed airship before they quickly marked the places where the remains of the two bodies were.

“Thank you.” Glynda said and led John to the backseat, where he sat beside her and laid Ruby across their laps.

The officer drove them to where they needed to go and they woke up a severely blushing Ruby before they left the backseat and entered the building. The next hour consisted of giving their statements to the police, recording the order of events as they saw them, and then explaining what happened to cause the crash and why there wasn't more damage besides the torn up street and a partially crushed airship.

That had been an interesting experience for the officers to learn the new kid in the city could use his just unlocked Healing Semblance to repair entire buildings to pristine condition. Shock was an understatement, especially when the Police Chief heard about it, then Ozpin arrived and set the man off for trying to steal a valuable city asset from them.

There was an hour long argument after that, about keeping John there in permanent custody for committing two murders. It was a stupid ploy to force him to stay there and repair the entire city, including the walls that kept out the Grimm, because it would save millions of Lien a year that could be used elsewhere. That John didn't have any identification or papers only made things worse.

Thankfully, Ozpin was much more important than a police chief in a single precinct in the entire city of Vale, so he pretty much told the overbearing man that he didn't have the authority to arrest a student acting under his Deputy Headmistress' command. No one but John noticed the brief flash of surprise on Glynda Goodwitch's face or the small smile of satisfaction that she couldn't quite hide afterwards.

*

“I can't believe it!” Ruby exclaimed and did a twirl as we stepped out through the front doors of the police station. “I'm going to be a huntress a whole 2 years early!”

“You showed enough promise with your battle abilities that you won't need to study too hard to catch up to your classmates.” Glynda Goodwitch said and Ruby's spin stopped dead and she almost fell over because she was so off balance with an arm and a leg sticking out so far.

“Wh-what?” Ruby asked, stunned.

“You need to study up on a few things that you should have learned over the next two years at your secondary academy before reaching Beacon.” Glynda said and patted her shoulder as she straightened the young girl and pulled her up into an upright position. “I'm sure your sister Miss Xiau Long can let you borrow her notes and things to let you catch up in due time.”

Ruby stared at her and didn't know what to say about being assigned so much work.

“It's all right, Ruby. I'm almost in the same boat as you.” I offered and Ruby's stare changed to me. “I have to catch up on all of the primary and secondary education, since I'm self-taught and I've never attended any school or academy.”

Ruby blinked her eyes several times at me and blushed. “Um... yeah. Maybe... we... um... yeah.”

I held in my laugh at her stammering. “We only have a couple of days before school starts, so I doubt we can set up enough study dates to cover everything.”

“D-d-d-d-DATES?!?” Ruby loudly gasped.

That I did laugh at. “That's what they're called when friends get together to study. S.T.U.D.Y. Study.” I said and Ruby still blushed. “I'd ask to start tomorrow, except I have to find somewhere to stay until school starts.”

Glynda turned to give me a searching look. “And how exactly are you going to pay for that without any Lien to your name?”

I held up my hand and let it glow gold for a second. “I seemed to recall having the ability to heal things. A quick stop at the nearest hospital and maybe asking for a few donations will give me enough for a meal or two and a room for the night.”

Glynda's searching look changed to concern. “John, you can't reveal that to people. If they knew what you can do... if anyone ever found out that you can repair buildings to like-new condition...” She stopped talking and shook her head. “You saw the reaction the police chief had. Now imagine that for thousands of people and them begging you to fix them and their houses, day in and day out, forever.”

I opened my mouth to say I could handle it, then sighed. “I know you're right. I do. I just...”

“...you feel like it's a waste to not use it.” Glynda finished the thought for me and I nodded. “The responsibility of taking care of the world is not on your shoulders, John. You are an academy student and that's all you need to be for the next four years.”

“That's assuming we pass the initiation ritual. If not, we can't give up! We just have to wait until next year to apply again!” Ruby said, excitedly.

I smiled and nodded. “Thanks, Ruby.” I said and looked at Glynda. “Thank you as well, Mistress Goodwitch.”

Glynda briefly smiled and her face went back to showing no emotion. “I believe if you can behave yourself, I can arrange for you to stay at the academy for the next two days. There is no one there at the moment as the school transitions between semesters, because it gives students and staff time to go home briefly before coming back.”

I thought about it and then shook my head. “I appreciate the offer of free reign over the entire campus for the next two days, I really do. I just don't want you to jeopardize your job or want to take you away from whatever your plans were for your time off.”

Glynda looked surprised at my refusal. “John, it's no trouble for me to...”

“Just saying that means it's a task you don't normally do and have to call in favors to get done.” I interrupted her and reached out to lightly rest my hand on her cheek. “I'll go rob a few criminals, raid a warehouse or two full of drugs, then I'll have lots of capital to trade and work with.”

Glynda's face flushed red from both my touch and my words. “You will do no such thing!”

I chuckled and let her face go. “Of course not. I'm joking.” I said and pulled out a few slivers of gold from my pocket and both Ruby and Glynda caught their breath at how shiny it was. “Just because I don't have any money, that doesn't mean I don't have anything to barter with.”

Glynda sighed. “All right, I won't push things.” She said and reached for my hand with the gold and folded my fingers over it and held my hand closed with her own. “Make sure that you don't flash that all over the place or you will gain a lot more attention than you think you will.”

“Don't worry, I'll be careful.” I said and put two of the slivers of gold back into my pocket and held the third one out to Ruby. “So, if you know any good fencers or second-hand shops that will buy pure gold, this is your finder's fee.”

Ruby made an 'eep' sound and stared at it, then at my face, then at the gold.

“Or maybe you have ideas for it? Like melting it down for weapon enhancement or something?” I asked and put the thing in her hand and took out a piece of silver metal that was the same size. The loud clink of metal in her hand made her hop a little. “That's titanium.” I said and reached into my other pocket and pulled out another sliver of metal to put in her hand. “And that's platinum.”

“COME WITH ME!” Ruby yelled, grabbed my arm, and activated her Semblance.

“Miss GOOOOOOOODWIIIIIITCH!!!” I yelled and my voice echoed as Ruby dragged me down the street in a flash. If I wasn't hearing things wrong from the Doppler Effect, I could have sworn I heard Glynda giggling. Naw, that was just my ears playing tricks on me.

That was how I ended up riding on a Bullhead airship towards Patch, the place Ruby lived. It had been kind of cute how she stuttered and stammered as she asked me to come home with her after the airship already took off. I let her suffer for a few seconds before I reminded her that if I didn't want to go with her, I wouldn't have stepped onto the airship with her after she paid for our tickets.

That earned me an epic blush and I couldn't resist chuckling at her reaction. She surprised herself when she smacked my arm with a hand for laughing at her, then she made an 'eep' sound and turned her head to stare at the bulkhead in a poor attempt to ignore me.

I didn't want her to be uncomfortable around me, so I asked her a very important question. “What is your weapon called?”

I had to clamp my mouth shut to not openly laugh at her doing a complete 180 with her personality as she told me all about her custom-made weapon named Crescent Rose, a combination Scythe and Assault Rifle. She designed it all by herself and built it herself, too.

Ruby kept talking non-stop for the entire trip to Patch, which was quite impressive, considering I couldn't really tell when she was taking breaths. I learned all about the tolerances her mecha-shift weapon worked under, the bore of her rifle barrel, the range of Dust rounds it could hold, and how long she could use it for suppressive fire before it had to cool down.

It wasn't until the Bullhead touched down that her opinions of using different mixes of Dust for better effects in her bullets came to a stop.

“I-I-I'm sorry for b-boring you.” Ruby said, her face going red as she walked beside me off of the airship.

“I wasn't bored.” I said and she looked like she didn't believe me. “It was fascinating, really. How did you manage to change the ammo magazine enough to fit inside the blade of your scythe, anyway? Why doesn't it affect how you fire it with it moving around so much during the shifts?”

Ruby's eyes lit up and her mouth was off and running again about how awesome her weapon was and how innovative the design was. The best part about it was that she genuinely did not realize she was praising herself when she said things like that, because it was her that designed it and made it work.

That fact went right over her head, which meant Ruby was a genuinely nice girl and wasn't conceited or full of herself, despite sounding like she was as she talked about the great things she did to make her weapon one of the best in the world. Having to mostly scrounge for parts and having to use the school's basic facilities to put it together, hadn't discouraged her enthusiasm at all.

Ruby kept talking about her weapon while she brought me to her modest home. She opened the door absently as she finished describing the ammo ejection module of her rifle, pulled me inside, and kicked the door shut before she locked it again. It was a well practised move because the door was solid and only made a single thump sound when it was slammed.

“I'M HOME!” Ruby yelled and walked through the living room and into the kitchen.

“WE HEARD THE STAMPEDE WHEN YOU CAME IN, RUBY!” A female voice yelled back from upstairs. “NOW SHUT UP! DA'S TRYING TO SLEEP!”

I heard a low groan come from a male voice, clearly from her father, and saw Ruby's embarrassed face. I didn't want her in any more trouble, so I whispered. “It's all right, Ruby. You had to tell them you were safe at home and they understand that.”

Ruby's embarrassed face didn't change, only the source did. She motioned to a chair and went to the refrigerator and grabbed the things to make a sandwich. I didn't say anything as she piled them onto the table in front of me and I mimed helping. She nodded and I used the appropriate knife to cut four appropriate slices of bread almost instantly from the loaf of bread and she stared at me with wide eyes.

I quickly carved 'Ruby 4, Loaf 0' on the top of the loaf of bread, like I was Zorro. Ruby slapped a hand over her own mouth to muffle her laugh and her shoulders shook. I winked at her and opened up the other packages and sliced up the meats and added the veggies and greens to the two sandwiches, then motioned to the condiments.

Ruby pointed to two of them that looked like mustard and mayo, so I added one to one side of the sandwich and one to the other side. She gave me an odd look when I assembled the sandwich.

“It keeps the two tastes separate instead of mixing them together.” I whispered the explanation.

Ruby kept the odd look on her face when I sliced the sandwiches with the knife diagonally and put them onto the two plates like they were on display and I added a sprinkle of garnish on the sides.

I chuckled at her expression. “I'm sorry, I like cooking and it's a habit to add flourishes like that.”

Ruby shrugged and we cleaned up the counter to put everything away, then carried the plates into the living room and sat down on the couch. I didn't want to crowd her and I also didn't want her to think I was distancing myself from her, so I sat about a foot away from her to give us just enough elbow room to eat without bumping into each other.

It still earned me another blush and I took out a bag of salt and vinegar potato chips, hiding the logo, and I poured some of it onto her plate and the rest onto mine. Ruby really stared at me after that one, especially when I made the empty bag disappear, so I did the smart thing and ignored her.

I started eating the first wedge of my sandwich and it was delicious, making me glad that my legendary cooking skills hadn't been lost or converted into something else after my reformatting.

Ruby gave me another pointed look as she picked up a wedge of her own sandwich and bit into it. She gasped and took a moment to savour the flavour as she chewed on it, then she pretty much shoved the whole thing into her mouth and softly moaned as she kept chewing, her cheeks puffed out like a squirrel carrying nuts in their mouth.

It was my turn to slap a hand over my mouth to muffle my laugh at the sight. Ruby's glare only made the sight funnier and I had a hard time keeping quiet. She rolled her eyes at me and chose to ignore me as she kept chewing and enjoyed the delicious sandwich. I ate mine normally, so by the time I finished the first half, she swallowed her well chewed one and let out a satisfied sigh.

“Chips.” I whispered and ate a couple of them from my plate.

Ruby copied me with her own chips and tasted them, her eyes widened slightly, then she gobbled them down in only a few moments and made a bit of a mess. “Where did you find such tasty things?”

“At a market very far away from here.” I whispered back in answer.

Ruby nodded and her eyes went to the pile of chips on my plate.

“Eat your sandwich first and you can have them.” I said and picked up the second wedge of my sandwich.

Ruby picked up her own and ate it normally this time, copying me. She softly moaned after each bite and I tried to not let myself get hard in reaction. I ate my own and slid my plate of chips on top of her empty one. She made a sound of thanks, at least I assumed it was thanks, and she picked at each chip to make them last. She then licked and sucked on each of her fingers to get the remains of the salt on them.

I couldn't stop my erection this time and tried to hide it, which unfortunately drew attention to it, and Ruby blushed as she looked down at my tent pole. She looked back up at my face and saw it was a little flushed red from embarrassment, because I was usually much better at hiding things, then the little minx licked and sucked on her little finger as she stared into my eyes.

A second later, Ruby realized what she just implied and looked mortified, blushed to a very deep red, and almost huddled in on herself as she tried to turn away from me. I couldn't let her do that, so I reached out and took her hand, making her freeze, and her head slowly turned to look back at me.

“I think we need to get to know each other a bit more for that to be a thing we could do.” I whispered, which shocked her, if her dropped open mouth was any indication. “Now I have a question that needs to be answered.” I said and paused to build up the tension. “Where am I going to sleep?”

“EEP!” Ruby squeaked loudly and seemed to faint without fainting as she stared at me without blinking. Before I could say anything to shake her out of it, someone else spoke.

“Dammit, Ruby.” A female voice said as the sounds of heavy footfalls came from the stairs. “Why can't you be quiet for more than a few minutes?”

Ruby was still out of it, so I turned my head enough to see a stacked girl with long blonde wavy hair wearing only a towel as she stomped down the stairs. Her breasts jiggled a lot as she walked and she came around the couch to glare at Ruby. At least, she tried to glare, only for her to notice me sitting there holding Ruby's hand. Her gaze went to me instead and her eyes narrowed.

“Who the hell are you?” She asked as she leaned forward. This was a mistake, because it pulled on her towel and the little knot under her armpit let go. The cloth unfurled almost instantly and fluttered to the floor, leaving her completely bare and only wearing her birthday suit.

“I am the guy getting to see something that should be saved for after the third date.” I answered without missing a beat. “It's nice to meet you, and you, and you.” I joked, nodding to each of her breasts and then at her face.

It took her a moment to realize what I did and she glanced down to see her assets hanging out freely and she stood up straight. She crossed her arms under her breasts, hefting them up a bit and squeezing them together to show them off more effectively, before she cocked her hip to the left side to put the majority of her weight on that foot.

“Then I hope you're getting a good enough look.” She said, a little smugly, clearly proud of herself and her body.

My eyes glanced down briefly at the tuft of hair between her legs that was mostly hidden by the edge of her thigh. “I can't say that I am.”

It was at this point Ruby came out of her shock and saw her sister. “YANG! Put some clothes on!”

“Pfft.” Yang said and shifted her weight as she cocked her hip to the other side, giving me the view she thought I already had.

“Now I can.” I said right away.

“Heh.” Yang said with a knowing smile. “What's your name?”

“My name's John. John Hansen.” I said and stood up, let Ruby's hand go as I cast a cleaning charm on myself, and held my hand out to Yang. “But, you can call me classmate.”

Yang's face lit up as she grinned, uncrossed her arms, and slapped her hand into mine. She shook my hand enthusiastically and her breasts jiggled happily. Wait, was that a thing now? Happily jiggling breasts?

“You're going to Beacon, too? That's great!” Yang said with a little laugh.

“It really is.” I said, trying to not stare at her breasts.

“Eh, go ahead. You've already seen them and they're right there.” Yang said and let my hand go before she cupped her breasts with her hands. “They're pretty awesome.”

“YANG!” Ruby yelled again, her face bright red.

“Hey, don't worry, Ruby. You're still growing. I'm sure yours will be close to this size in two years when you turn 17.” Yang said and let hers go, making them jiggle even more.

“You're pretty shameless once you pass a certain point, aren't you?” I asked.

“Yep! If this little accident hadn't happened, what you said about three dates was right. I'd need a couple dates at least and you have to get me a little drunk before I let you see these babies.” Yang said and poked her now erect nipples. She gave me a smug look for a moment. “You're quite the gentleman for not trying to grope 'em with them right here in front of you.”

I had to laugh at that. “If I was even a little bit of an asshole, I'd already have you bent over the couch.”

“Oh? Do you think you can handle someone like me?” Yang teased and rubbed her hands down her sides and over her hips, trying to draw my attention to where she wanted it.

I didn't fall for it and kept looking at her face. “I'm tempted to say easily, except I came here with Ruby and I'd be a poor friend if I ignored her for much longer to keep flirting with you.”

Yang's eyes dropped from my face to her sister's and saw Ruby's glare. She sighed and covered her nipples with one arm and her crotch with her other hand. “I'm sorry, Ruby. I swore I'd never try to poach any of your friends that you brought home.”

Ruby sighed this time. “You barely even have to try and they drop me anyway.”

I knew this was a sensitive subject, because that comment really brought the mood in the room down. I bent down and picked up the towel to hold up. Instead of dangling it like both Yang and Ruby expected, so Yang would have to uncover herself to take it, I stepped forward and wrapped it around Yang's back and held the ends in front of her for her to grab it safely and stay covered.

“Thanks.” Yang said, genuinely grateful.

I nodded and looked down at Ruby still sitting on the couch. “So, where am I going to sleep?”

Ruby blushed and looked away from me, saw Yang's smile and turned away from her, too.

“Wait, she really asked you to come home with her?” Yang asked, surprised.

“I needed a place to stay until the school semester starts in two days. I offered her slivers of precious metals for her to modify Crescent Rose as compensation.” I explained.

“Yeah, that'd be more than enough to do it.” Yang said with a chuckle and patted Ruby's head. “You're lucky we had the guest room already done up for Drunkle Qrow.”

“Drunkle?” I asked.

“Drunk Uncle.” Yang said and waved for me to follow her to the stairs. “He's constantly loaded to stop himself from using his Semblance all the time.”

“If he's sober, he causes bad luck in an area around himself.” Ruby added and followed us.

“That's Qrow. Friend or enemy, it doesn't matter. He can't control it.” Yang said, matter of factly.

I tried to not stare at Yang's ass as she led me up the stairs, except she intentionally tightened the towel to pull it up over her breasts and left most of her ass hanging out. I could see nearly everything, because her thighs did not rub together when she walked. When I managed to divert my attention to the back of her head, she glanced back with a satisfied look on her face for making me look.

“That's Ruby's room and that one's mine.” Yang said and pointed them out on the left side. “That's dad's at the end and the first one is the bathroom.” She said after pointing to them down the hall and the first door on the right. She stopped walking at the middle door and opened it. “This is the spare room.”

I glanced inside and saw it was a generic room. White walls, a bed, a dresser, and a closet. That was it. “It's perfect, thank you.”

“Towels are in the cabinet in the bathroom.” Yang said as I stepped inside the room. “Try to not use up all the hot water, okay? I had to wait all day after someone decided the dog needed a bubble bath and used my shampoo.”

“It's not my fault Zwei likes the smell better than that flea stuff you bought for him.” Ruby said to defend herself. “He's picky about things like that.”

Yang shook her head. “Whatever.” She gave me a smile as if she hadn't just argued about dog baths with her sister. “We eat early, even on weekends. If you're not up in time, you don't get fed.”

“Yang!” Ruby exclaimed. “He's a guest!”

“House rules apply to guests, too.” Yang said smugly and walked over to her room, her hips swaying dangerously enough to make the towel gape at the front. I knew this, because she opened her door and turned around enough to give me yet another view between her legs. “Goodnight, and I'll see you both in the morning.”

“Goodnight.” I said.

Ruby stayed silent and glared at her. Yang lazily waved at her and shut her door softly.

“I'm not tempted, you know.” I whispered.

“I don't know why you aren't.” Ruby whispered back with a sigh. “She can't stop herself from flirting, even after she promised not to.”

“She's too outgoing to not overreact when she gets the chance?” I asked and she nodded. “Then I'll try to not give her many more chances.”

Ruby gave me an odd look. “What do you mean by that?”

“It only works if no one else gives me chances, too.” I said and didn't have to clarify that.

Ruby opened her mouth to say something, then huffed instead. “Okay, that's fair. She did just flash you.”

I couldn't help but tease her about that. “If you saw her do that, she technically flashed you, too.”

Ruby blushed and made an 'eep' sound, making me chuckle.

“Goodnight, Ruby.” I said and she barely nodded before she disappeared in a swirl of rose petals and her bedroom door shut a split-second later. I shut the guest room's door, locked it, and silenced the room before I did anything else. I thought about what was going to happen next, or I should say, what I needed to intervene with.

Eye beeped a question at me when I took him out from my inventory.

“I know, buddy. I just arrived and I haven't done any infrastructure building yet.” I said and he beeped again. “I'm not sure if I can with the way things are set up here. The situation so far is a bit of a pickle and I need your help to fix a few things.”

“Beep boop.” Eye agreed.

“I haven't had the chance to copy a Scroll yet.” I said and he beeped again. “It's the local equivalent of a cell phone and tablet combined, so you'll have to piggyback off of the closest signal.”

Eye beeped again a few seconds later.

“Excellent, my friend. I need you to find a family named Arc in Ansen, a small town in Vale, and the Winchester family in Vale as well. I'm not sure of the town, except it might be a port.” I said and thought about it. “They're probably rich, too. Their son's a bigot and an asshole.”

“Beep.” Eye responded and started searching.

“While you're at it, if you can narrow down where the White Fang is currently hiding out in the slums, that would be great.” I said as I patted his sleek futuristic hull.

“Boop?” Eye asked me.

“Good point. I should be careful about moving around.” I said and switched out my clothes for my superhero suit, only I changed the white color to black and left the big H symbol on my chest. I took out an invisibility cloak, just in case my own powers to keep me invisible didn't quite work, and put it on.

“Beep.” Eye commented.

“No, I can't. There's no way I'm going to expose myself to the local equivalent of The Force.” I said and shivered at the thought. “It would be all screaming for help as it's being devoured by the corruption.”

“Beep boop?” Eye asked.

“Right, I have a lot to tell you.” I said and started explaining what I felt and saw when I was between universes. When I was done, I apparated out to the first address Eye had for me.

*

Jaune Arc laid in his bed and had a goofy smile on his face. His audacious secret plan was on track, his armor was packed in his getaway bag, and he was about to be enrolled as a student at Beacon. He was going to be a famous hunter just like his great grandpa!

The fake transcripts he spent most of his allowance on had worked and all he had to do was sneak out of the house tomorrow morning, steal the family sword and shield, and hop on the Bullhead transport to head to the school before anyone could stop him.

He never saw the dark figure that appeared in his room and he didn't notice when he fell asleep, even though he wasn't tired and had been too excited to sleep. He would also never know why he would completely change his mind in the morning, accept that he was where he was supposed to be, surrounded by his family.

Jaune would soon become the best brother that the Arc family had ever seen, too. That he was the only brother didn't matter at all, because he was the best!

*

Cardin Winchester was sound asleep when someone appeared inside his bedroom. He would never understand why his friends were upset that he had changed his mind about going to a hunter training academy with them and would instead help his father with the family's shipping business. His family was ecstatic about the change and he was proud to meet their expectations.

It was much more important to ensure the safety of the transports than it was to waste his time at a school to learn something he already knew how to do. He was strong enough that he could contribute as a guard for long enough to learn the ins and outs of the company and then he would move up into management. That was what his father did when he started out and Cardin would follow in his footsteps.

*

The old rundown warehouse was the best place for Adam and his band of the White Fang to stay in temporarily. Their last hideout had to be abandoned when their contact, Roman Torchwick, never returned from his last job stealing Dust. The police were also out in force looking for his partner, Neopolitan. That tricky woman could be anywhere and wasn't loyal to anyone, let alone the White Fang.

Adam tried to keep calm as he sat in the old and wrecked office and went over the plans again to cause lots of trouble in Vale to make people fear the White Fang like they should. They had interfered with the train shipment successfully, just like Cinder Fall wanted, and he had to figure out how he was going to smuggle dozens of large crates of Dust out of the city without Roman's help.

The main branch of the White Fang needed that Dust and he would make sure they would get it, or he would die trying. His people needed to show the world that the White Fang were the rising force to be feared and their demands for equality would be met, or else.

His thoughts went to his traitorous ex-girlfriend Blake Belladonna and he grit his teeth at her abandoning him right when he needed her the most. No, she abandoned the cause and not just him. She ran from what the White Fang stood for and she would pay for her betrayal when he tracked her down.

Adam knew where she lived and knew who she lived with, so if he couldn't convince her to return to the fold with her friend held hostage, then neither of them were of use to him and they would be disposed of. Traitors and betrayers could not be allowed to live.

A weird smell started to fill the air and Adam sniffed it, shook his head, and wondered what it was. His faunus senses were a lot stronger, because he was a bull faunus, and he snorted and pulled in a large sniff to figure out what it was. His eyes started to feel heavy and he didn't know why he was suddenly tired. Sleeping seemed like a good idea, so he laid his head down on the desk and went to sleep.

Both Adam and his terrorist cell buddies wouldn't wake up for 12 hours and would soon realize they were not in the drafty old warehouse anymore. They were in a prison that was just as dark and dingy. For some reason, they started to relive all of the crimes they had committed against everyone they had ever wronged and all of them suffered for it.

They would never know their stolen crates of high grade Dust crystals, high grade Dust powder, and briefcases of Lien currency that was their operating budget for the year, had been stolen and would be used to help instead of hurting people like they planned.

*

Yang woke up in the morning and she felt well rested. She also had a great dream about that handsome guy Ruby brought home last night and he was really talented. At least, her mind pretended he was. She had no clue what he looked like under those slightly baggy clothes and she had used a lot of her imagination to fill in the missing details.

She chuckled under her breath as she hopped up out of bed, her tiny tank top barely restraining her hefty assets as she stretched and did her morning exercises. Her panties were damp after her wicked dream, so she had to take a shower before anyone else was up. She grabbed a change of clothes and left her room, a hop in her step, and went to the bathroom.

The door wasn't locked, so Yang entered and tossed her clean clothes onto the sink's counter and pulled off her tank top and then her panties to toss them into the laundry basket. Her arm froze and the clothes dropped to the floor, because she just noticed that the handsome guy from last night had just stepped out of the shower.

John grabbed a towel hanging on the rack and started to dry himself off. “Oh! Good morning, Yang.” He said and rubbed the towel over his chest. His very muscular chest. His buff arms flexed as his hands moved the towel down and dried off that spot. That very nice spot between his legs that she was kind of drooling over.

Yang's mouth opened slightly and some of that drool slipped out and dribbled down her chin. Her imagination had apparently been quite underwhelming and she tried to memorize every detail she could see to use in her next dozen daydreams.

John flipped the towel around and rubbed it across his back and then his backside, giving Yang a full view of everything. “The shower's free.” He said and dried his legs and feet, tossed the damp towel into the laundry basket, and walked by her.

Yang watched his tight butt walk out of the bathroom and her drool dripped onto the floor.

“Now we're even.” John said with a smirk on his face and closed the door.

It took several seconds before Yang's brain finished rebooting and she realized what had just happened. She had been played! He used her own flaunting naked trick against her, the sneaky bastard!

Instead of being upset, Yang laughed out loud. She bent down to grab her dropped dirty clothes and tossed them into the laundry basket and noticed the towel. Her mind immediately associated it with where it had been on him and she pulled it out and rubbed her face into it as she took a huge sniff.

“Damn, he even smells sexy.” Yang muttered as she wallowed in it and regretted making that promise to not poach Ruby's friends. She didn't waste much time with the towel, though. She needed to get ready and then she had to go make breakfast for her family and another person. A damn sexy person. “Mmm. Muscles.”

Yang managed to not play with herself too much in the shower, just enough to take the edge off and relax a little, and she dressed in her favorite clothes that were her signature look and went downstairs. She had enough time to get a quick breakfast made and... she paused at the bottom of the stairs because she could smell something really delicious coming from the kitchen. Someone was making food and it wasn't her!

“These things are delicious! What did you call them again?” Ruby's voice asked.

Yang caught her breath because Ruby was never up this early. Never. Most days she had to be dragged out of bed in order to make it to school on time.

“Crepes.” John's voice answered her. “That's both the thing it's wrapped in and the thing as a whole with all the berries, fruit, and whipped cream inside, which is both weird and simple.”

Ruby's giggle was fairly loud with the house so quiet. Yang had heard enough and strode forward to see what these crepes were, only for the smell to get stronger when she entered the kitchen. The happy look on Ruby's face deflated her indignation and Yang was no longer angry that John had stolen her job.

“Yang, you gotta try this!” Ruby said and disappeared from the table in a swirl of rose petals and reappeared in front of her sister as she shoved a plate and fork into Yang's hands.

Yang cut a piece off and stabbed it, then it was in her mouth and she moaned. “Thash sho goosh.”

“I know, right?” Ruby asked and another swirl of rose petals later, she was back at the table and eating her own again. “This is my third one!”

John chuckled and finished cooking another one and assembled it and wrapped it up. “It's light, gives lots of energy, and should get you through half the day at least.” He said and walked over to Yang and put it on her plate. “Have a seat at the table and I'll do up a few more for your father.”

Yang went to the kitchen table and sat, eating the whole way. “What about you?”

“I ate while I was cooking for Ruby. It saves time and keeps me busy.” John said and popped a strawberry into his mouth. “Snacking is better than eating a large heavy meal first thing in the morning anyway. Too much food so early will only drag you down and slow your body down.”

Yang nodded and fell silent as she ate, then saw Ruby eyeing her plate. John chuckled and put another crepe onto Ruby's plate.

“Thanks, John!” Ruby said and dug into it like she was starving and hadn't just eaten three others.

“And who might you be?” A man's stern voice asked.

Both Yang and Ruby almost jumped out of their chairs at the scare.

John hadn't even flinched as he plated three crepes and turned to the man who spoke. “My name is John Hansen, Mister Xiau Long. I'm heading to Beacon tomorrow and Ruby was kind enough to let me bunk in the guest room last night.” He said and walked over to the tall man and handed him the plate and a fork. “I made breakfast as a thank you.”

Yang watched the interaction and she wasn't sure what way her father was going to go. John mentioning that it was Ruby that invited him over, made her father's shoulders relax, meaning he thought that she had a guy over and... yeah, she wasn't that stupid.

“I also kind of bribed her with bits of precious metals for her to use on Crescent Rose.” John added with a grin. “I wasn't allowed to refuse her offer after that.”

His words made Tiyang smile, surprising both Yang and Ruby.

He actually smiled! Yang thought as Ruby blushed.

“If you're going to Beacon tomorrow, I suppose you could stay here again tonight.” Tiyang offered, which really surprised his two daughters.

“I couldn't impose on your family's hospitality two nights in a row.” John responded.

Tiyang tried one of the crepes and hummed. “It wouldn't be for free, since you said Ruby is modifying her weapon.”

John's eyebrows rose and then he nodded, because something was going on. “Do you have somewhere we can work on it?”

“I'm a teacher at Signal Secondary School.” Tiyang told him. “I have some paperwork to finish there for the new semester and I can let you both into their weapon workshops for the day.”

“Really, dad?” Ruby asked and hopped to her feet. “Really really?”

Tiyang chuckled. “I'll probably stop in to watch you two later, just to make sure you don't mess anything up.”

“THANKS DAD!” Ruby yelled. There was a swirl of rose petals, Tiyang was hugged, and one of his crepes went missing.

“Dammit, Ruby!” Yang shouted and Ruby's muffled laugh came from the living room.

Tiyang laughed as well and quickly finished his breakfast before any more could be stolen. “Yang, you're on house duty today. Guard the place and don't let anyone in unless you know them.”

“Or they're Uncle Qrow.” Yang joked.

“That's fair.” Tiyang said and handed the plate to John. “When can you be ready to leave?”

“If Yang does the breakfast dishes, I'll wash the dinner ones.” John responded.

Yang sighed. “Fine, I'll do them.”

“Yes!” Ruby exclaimed from the living room.

“Today was Ruby's turn on dish duty?” John asked and both Tiyang and Yang nodded. “Sorry.”

“It's okay. She usually sneaks out of doing them anyway.” Yang said and went to the sink.

John gave Tiyang a brief glance before he leaned in to kiss Yang's cheek. “I'll cook dinner, too.”

Yang blushed slightly and nodded, her mind picturing him getting out of the shower.

“Let's go.” Tiyang said and led John out of the kitchen and through the living room.

Ruby was already by the door and hopping a little, clearly excited. “This is going to be awesome!”

Tiyang chuckled and shut the door behind them and the three of them walked over to the airship terminal. It was a medium length flight from the small island of Patch to Vale and they hopped onto the public transport to go to the school.

“I can't wait to get that new metal smelted and then integrated into my baby!” Ruby said, excitedly.

Both Tiyang and John smiled at her enthusiasm and after they landed, a kind of long walk brought them to the school and Tiyang led them inside and over to the weapon workshops. He watched them set up a workstation and left them to it after he saw the high quality of the metals John had given to Ruby.

When Tiyang reached his classroom, he took out his Scroll and made a call.

“Hello, Tiyang.” Ozpin said with a smile.

*

I had to admit that Ruby was kind of a genius when it came to weapons manufacturing and mecha-shifting. She was also mostly self-taught, with her school classes just refining her own techniques, which was just like my own experiences. That was why we had hit it off pretty much right from the start and I successfully ignored that I had given her an Aura induced orgasm.

A look of joy was on Ruby's face as I helped her disassemble her weapon without trouble and we refined the precious metals I gave her to replace a few of the smaller and important parts of her device, like the injection module for Dust and the ejection system for bullet casings. The changes also increased the power it could transfer between forms and we doubled her normal ammo capacity.

With that part done, I helped her work out a few more things with her mecha-shift, like using a lighter and stronger alloy to give her sniper rifle mode an actual transformation into a long range weapon instead of just popping out a small scope.

The look of awe on Ruby's face was worth revealing some of my own weapon design experience and it also let her know that I really did listen to her when she had babbled about her weapon and understood what she meant when she described things.

“I knew doing this would be awesome.” Ruby said with reverence as she cradled her slightly reformed weapon in her arms.

“The storage mode isn't as bulky and the weight is cut down, so you are going to be moving around quicker than a flash when you use it for manoeuvrability. That's what the second ammo magazine is for, so make sure you load it up with the cheapest Fire Dust ammo you can get or make.” I told her.

Ruby nodded and caressed the part I was talking about, because both magazines could be loaded while it was in storage mode.

“When you switch to either of the gun modes, it uses the ammo in the primary magazine. You should only load it with medium grade dust bullets or higher. Otherwise, you won't penetrate the basic armor plate on an Ursa Minor or an Alpha Beowolf.”

Ruby started to blush in embarrassment. “J-John, I... I can't afford...”

I chuckled and put an arm over her shoulders. “Don't worry about that, Ruby. I helped you modify your baby to make it slightly better than your genius brain already had. There's no way I'll let you use substandard ammo in her anymore, except for movement only.”

Ruby really blushed this time, probably because she wasn't used to the praise.

“Thanks for showing me the best way to use those slivers of metal to the best effect in weapon manufacture, by the way. That gives me a lot of negotiation power and we can visit any weapon shop in Vale to work things out to get some money. I can't get ripped off now when I do trades for either Dust or Lien.”

“Y-y-you're w-welcome.” Ruby stuttered, clearly embarrassed.

I chuckled and let her go. “Now that I know more about how things shift and why, I definitely need to borrow Yang's old school books and notes as well as yours. Can you give me a hand studying after we get back to your place? I'm sure that if you help me learn what I can, you'll learn more as well.”

Ruby nodded and hugged her weapon tightly. “I'd like that.”

“Let's go find your dad...” I started to say.

“There's no need.” Tiyang finally spoke up and I didn't have to keep ignoring his presence.

“DAD!” Ruby gasped in fright and blushed again, because I had just hugged her with one arm and she was sure her father had seen it.

“I came in when you were caught up reworking the scythe blade to sharpen itself during the mecha-shift transition.” Tiyang said, his voice full of approval. “That was quite the idea, John.”

I pretended to be bashful and rubbed the back of my head like a clueless anime protagonist. “It only works because of Ruby's ingenious folding design when it's in compact mode. Adding the sharpening bits to the shifting mechanism should save her a lot of extra maintenance and downtime from wear.”

“That it will.” Tiyang agreed. “She might have to replace the blade more often in exchange.”

“Uh, no sir.” I said and he gave me a questioning look. “It's titanium reinforced with embedded Earth Dust into the blades. She shouldn't have to replace any parts for at least a year, even with extensive use.”

Tiyang looked shocked at hearing that.

“It's awesome, Dad! I never thought about smelting the metal to form it and then adding powdered Earth Dust to stabilize it as it cooled.” Ruby said and pet her compact weapon. “Crescent Rose is more powerful than ever and it's all thanks to John!”

I shook my head. “No, no. You're not giving me all the credit. I couldn't have done much if it had been a normal weapon and we both know that. Your design made it almost too easy to modify and tweak things to make it better without having to fundamentally change what the weapon is or what it does.”

Making Ruby blush from the praise should distract her father from asking me too many questions about things and I relaxed slightly.

“I see.” Tiyang said as his eyes locked onto the weapon. “You didn't happen to document the process to do that, did you?”

Dammit, he's not distracted. I thought and made up an excuse. “Document it?” I asked with a laugh. “Ruby really knows her stuff and we were having too much fun playing around with techniques and figuring things out.”

Ruby nodded her head. “It really was fun as we worked on everything and managed to get the best out of it all.” She said and waved at the messy workshop around us.

Nearly every machine had been used in some capacity and we cleaned up as much as we could, without making the things look like someone intentionally cleaned them to cover up the evidence of what we did, even if that was exactly what I had done. A stealthed Eye had also looped the footage of the cameras occasionally to hide what we did, too.

Tiyang let out a soft sigh and motioned to the door. “If you're all done, head out to the front of the school and I'll make sure everything here is shut down and locked up.”

“Okay, Dad.” Ruby said and hooked her weapon on her belt behind her back and her cape hid it perfectly. She took my hand and led me out of the room with a skip in her step.

I didn't have to tell Eye to record Tiyang's second call to Ozpin as the man filled the headmaster in on what went on. We waited out front as Ruby chatted about how much fun going to Beacon early was going to be. She had known her uncle had trained her more than his other students, because she was family and she was using a similar weapon to his.

I didn't remind her that she would have to study twice as hard to catch up to her classmates, mostly because I would be doing the same. I had to catch up to her and then her classmates, so it was going to be a frantic afternoon and evening back at the Xiau Long residence. I wouldn't let her fall behind, though. I knew a lot of tricks and tips to let her excel and I would share them with her as we studied.

Tiyang came out of the school and locked the doors, his face blank, which meant whatever he talked to Ozpin about hadn't reassured him. We walked over to the transport hub and bought tickets to head downtown. It was a surprisingly quick trip to find a weapon shop that was ecstatic to have access to some precious metals that made mecha-shift weapons more effective.

We left the store with a huge crate of their cheapest Fire Dust that Ruby could easily make into her own ammo and would last for at least a month. That didn't have her dancing around the street as we went to the transport, however. It was the cases of medium and high strength ammo of various kinds of Dust, because Ruby couldn't wait to try out different combinations to see their effects, now that she wasn't restricted by her allowance.

Tiyang couldn't quite hide his displeasure at me spoiling his little girl like that, even though he knew I couldn't resist the temptation. She had been so excited as she pretty much flew around the weapon shop and pointed out all the things she knew about, commented on their quality and use, and acted like a kid in a candy store with an unlimited budget.

The clerk had been so impressed by Ruby's observations that he had thrown in a box of armor penetrating ammo for free, because she had saved him a lot of money by telling him which parts were inferior and to only stock the minimum amount for the people that couldn't afford the better models.

The flight back to Patch was filled with Ruby's chatter as she talked about everything she was going to do. She was almost glowing as she rushed out of the terminal and ran all the way home with several cases of ammo strapped to her back. It was kind of amazing that she could handle so much weight and not be encumbered, which meant she was used to carrying a lot more weight than a young girl really should.

“Hey, you're back.” Yang said from the couch when Tiyang and I entered the house. She was watching some program on the screen and shut it off. “Ruby blew by and is already upstairs in her room playing with something, so you must have done something to get her all excited.”

Neither I nor her father missed the sexual implications.

I decided to head that off before it got started. “I traded some precious metals for Dust and Lien.” I said and put down the large crate of Fire Dust that was clearly marked. “The clerk threw in a case of AP ammo for her to use in Crescent Rose.”

Yang laughed. “Yeah, that'd do it. We won't see her again until dinner.” She said and gave me an odd look. “Are you sure you can handle cooking for all of us?”

“I've cooked for a few dozen people before, so it's not a problem.” I said and walked by the couch as Tiyang put down the rest of the boxes around the large crate. “I'd ask if you have any preferences, except I don't know what you have here for me to use.”

“If you're thinking meat, there's nothing.” Yang said and didn't see Tiyang's flinch behind her. He had clearly forgotten to pick up groceries more than a few times for Yang to sound that confident there was none available.

“That's not a problem. After I check what you have, I'll head out and grab some things.” I said and went into the kitchen.

“I'll go with you.” Yang said and stood up to follow me. “As long as you're paying.”

I had to laugh at that. “That's fine. I'm kind of flush with cash and resources right now.” I told her and started opening cupboards and the refrigerator to check them. “You can grab whatever you want.”

“Reeeeally?” Yang asked suggestively and reached for me.

I moved my butt out of the way and she missed. “Not that. I meant food.”

“Spoilsport.” Yang said with a laugh and sat at the table to watch me.

I shook my head at her and took note of what they had and what they didn't have, like the basic staples for living. I saw a lot of junk food and not much else, not after I used up the fruit and eggs I had that morning for breakfast. They didn't even have any loafs of bread besides the one I had marked for Ruby, which made Yang laugh when she saw it.

“She claimed the cookies, too.” Yang said and pointed up on top of the closest cupboard. “That's where she hides them and thinks we don't know where they are.”

I chuckled and checked to see that the box was almost empty. “I suppose a restock is in order.”

Yang smirked. “Don't tell Ruby that. She's a cookie goblin and will bug you for every kind they have on the market.”

I barked a laugh and put the cookies back. “All right, I have a good idea what we have to get.”

“Great! We'll take my ride.” Yang said as she hopped up off the chair and grabbed my hand. She dragged me through the house to the small garage and presented me with her sleek-looking motorcycle. “This is my sweet ride, Bumblebee.”

It was kind of a mix of a crotch rocket and a power racer, with the rear wheel hooked into larger gears. I stepped close and touched the moulded yellow metal of what should have been the gas tank, except it was the combustible Dust chamber that injected it into the powerful engine. I knelt to look closer at the engine and saw how the gears would give her instant acceleration at the start and long term power.

“Isn't she a beauty?” Yang asked and her hand copied mine as she traced the same path.

“It matches your style.” I commented.“You must have saved up for a long time to buy something like this.”

“Ever since I saw an add when I was a kid.” Yang said, proudly. “It's not the newest model; but, I've modded it as much as a street legal bike can be. This baby can easily beat the new ones, hands down.”

I nodded, because it would outperform factory specs by a wide margin with the power train it had. I glanced at the tires and saw the worn treads, my fingers tracing a few of them on the back tire.

“Yeah, I know. I need to be more careful until I can replace them.” Yang said and sighed. “Until then, I have to cut down on the fun I can have with it.”

I nodded again and stood up. “Maybe we can stop by a shop and I can help you fix that.”

Yang picked up her helmet that matched the bike. “You're lucky I swore to not poach Ruby's friends, because those are dating words if I've ever heard any.”

I softly laughed at that and didn't comment she would be an expensive first date. “Do you have an extra helmet? I don't want us getting pulled over because I'm not wearing the right safety equipment.”

Yang grinned at me and pointed at the dark red and black one hanging on the wall. “I had to get one for Ruby and she wouldn't shut up about how it had to match her outfit.”

I took it and tried it on. It was a little snug and that was okay. I wouldn't be wearing it for long. “How much does it set you back to take this thing into town?”

“It's not much more expensive to bring it onto the transport than buying two tickets.” Yang said and put on her helmet and climbed onto her motorcycle. “Can you open the door and close it after I'm out?”

“Sure.” I said and slid the garage door up and she rolled the vehicle out onto the road. I closed the door again and heard it click into place. “Self-locking?”

Yang's helmet nodded. “It's a pain to put the bike away when I'm done, so I usually call ahead to get Ruby or dad to open it for me.”

“Smart.” I said and climbed onto the back of the bike and settled behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist as I leaned in.

Yang seemed to freeze for a moment, then she turned her head to look over her shoulder. “You're also pretty shameless after you pass a certain point, too.”

“I am, only this isn't that. I have a lot of experience riding a motorcycle and I know that having a second rider add their weight to mine is the safest way to make sure they don't throw off the bike's balance when I'm not expecting it.” I explained.

“Well, damn. You just saved me from giving you the ten minute lecture I had to give Ruby about the same thing.” Yang said and looked forward as she started the motorcycle.

“I'm glad to be of service.” I joked and pulled my knees in as tightly as they could go. “I'm set.”

“Great! Hold on!” Yang shouted and gunned it.

The back tire squealed on the pavement for a second before the traction kicked in and we took off.

“WOOOHOOOO!” Yang yelled and revelled in cutting lose.

It didn't last long, because she had to slow down to take a turn and then we were at the transport area. I paid the fee for the motorcycle and the guy waved us on without charging us anything else. I thanked him and he said as long as we stayed on the bike, it was no problem.

“Damn, I have to remember that.” Yang whispered.

The trip was the same as usual and we drove off after we landed. Yang had a couple of places she wanted to stop and she also said she had limited space under the seat to store things. I responded by saying I could store anything she wanted in my subspace pocket. Her head whipped around to stare at me and we would have crashed if I hadn't grabbed the handlebars.

I brought us to a stop and Yang didn't stop staring at me, so I hopped off, pushed her to the back of the seat, and climbed on in front. Eye had heard the names of the places she wanted to go, so I followed his stealthed drone to the first place he found. I parked and took the keys for the motorcycle and pocketed them, which finally broke Yang out of her stunned state.

“Hey, those are mine.” Yang said and took off her helmet.

I took the keys back out and dangled them out of her reach. “Come and get them.”

Yang hopped off the motorcycle and took a step towards me, so I tossed her the keys and opened the seat compartment and stowed Ruby's helmet inside. I motioned to hers and she handed it to me.

“How did you handle my bike so well?” Yang asked me.

“I told you. I have a lot of experience driving a motorcycle, even though it's been a while.” I said and took her hand to bring her into the large grocery market.

Yang looked down at our clasped hands and back up at my face, as if she couldn't believe that I had initiated contact.

“I don't want to lose you in there and you have to point out what things you want.” I clarified.

“You don't have to make up excuses to stay close to me, John.” Yang said, teasingly.

I barely stopped myself from rolling my eyes. “If I wanted to stay that close to you, it would be my other hand holding yours and this hand would be around your waist.”

Yang looked a little lost for a moment and then blushed when she pictured it in her head. The intimate embrace would let everyone around us know that we were a couple if I held her like that.

“Come on.” I said instead of teasing her some more and we entered the busy place that was full of people shopping.

It didn't take Yang long to relax and she started teasing me again. She really was shameless as she tried to get me to react. I had a lot of experience with things like that and didn't give her the satisfaction as we picked different things up. By the time we left the market, we had six large bags full of groceries and Yang was constantly laughing under her breath at how we were going to get it all back home on a motorcycle.

I opened the seat storage and took out the two helmets and pretended to put the first bag of groceries into the seat, only to store it instead and it disappeared. Her eyes widened as I repeated this for all six bags and then I closed the seat compartment. I handed her the yellow helmet and she held onto it like it was a teddy bear.

I had to chuckle at her being shocked by something so simple and put on Ruby's helmet, helped her put hers on, and hopped on the motorcycle in the driving position with my hand held out for the keys. Surprisingly, she handed them over and climbed onto the back and she snuggled into me and held on tightly like I had to her.

“Rachel's Meat Market next. She should have some fresh meat ready for sale.” Yang said.

“On it.” I said and started the engine. I didn't take off like a shot because the street was too crowded for that. I heard a disappointed sound from Yang and chuckled. “I'm sure there's a nice stretch around here somewhere we can really open this baby up and she can show off what she can do.”

Yang almost growled in my ear at the suggestion. “Tires first.”

“Of course.” I said and drove at a sedate pace that didn't suit the motorcycle at all. The traffic was a lot heavier in the middle of the city and I could feel Yang almost vibrating. Her need for speed was getting to her as we moved along with the slow traffic, so I asked her if she had a place she preferred to buy the replacement tires to try and distract her. It didn't work until I told her that cost was no object.

That set Yang off and she babbled as much as Ruby had in the weapon shop over the best parts and where to get them. It was apparently a normal thing for the sisters to speculate endlessly about what they would buy to make their possessions better if they had no restrictions on their normally limited budget.

We stopped at the meat market of her choice and Yang kept telling me about the best manifold to use with her engine type and that she even spent some time grinding up the combustible Dust she bought for her motorcycle to make it last longer and perform better, because the finer particles were better for the engine.

I bought more meat than we would need for the short time we would be at the house, mostly because Yang kept saying she hoped her dad didn't continue to eat out all the time with her and Ruby gone. Plus, their dog needed some roughage and the scraps of meat we bought would go a long way to keeping him happy.

We left there and I drove her to one of the higher end vehicle parts stores and Yang was in gearhead heaven. She pointed out the things she could use, even if it needed a slight modification to work on her model of motorcycle. Just like Ruby, she really let herself go all out with excitement and hopped around the place as she told me all about her favorite companies and the best parts.

She wouldn't let me buy the parts, though. She kept telling me she didn't have the time to work on the bike with us going off to school tomorrow and there was no point in buying enough parts to pretty much rebuild her motorcycle from the ground up if she couldn't do it.

I kept glancing at the things she pointed to and nodded to one of the clerks that was shadowing us to make sure we didn't steal anything. He had a happy smile on his face as he continued to sneak away with the parts behind Yang's back to bring them back to the counter and added them to the growing pile.

We finally reached the back of the store where the tires were and Yang reached out and caressed one of the nicest looking tires there. Surprisingly, it was not the most expensive one.

Yang let out a soft sigh and moved down the rack and patted a much rougher tire. “These are the ones we need. It shouldn't take long to get them replaced on the bike and we can head home.”

“Sure.” I said and nodded to the clerk behind us. He already had two of the nice tires hung over his shoulders and sauntered back to the front of the store where the counter was.

Yang's face drained of color as she stared at him. “Wh-what... what...”

“I helped Ruby with her passion as a thank you for letting me stay at your home. It's only fair I do the same for you.” I said and took her hand. She didn't react and I led her to the front of the store and the clerk hid the total from Yang's sight as he showed me. I pulled out a wallet and started pulling out large denomination cards of Lien and handed them over.

That Yang reacted to and she made a choking sound as I paid a lot of money for parts she claimed she couldn't use. I also added in a fee to switch out the tires immediately and a crew of five guys brought us into the attached garage and we watched as they expertly did that, balanced them, and asked if we wanted to keep the old tires. I said no, only new tires would do from now on, and they disposed of them.

Yang had a hard time breathing as the crew cleaned and polished up her baby and made it look like it just came off the factory floor. There wasn't time to switch out any of the other parts, though. It was getting late and we had to get back to make dinner for everyone. They did manage to add two large hard case saddlebags to the motorcycle on either side of the rear tire and put all of the parts I bought into them.

“Thanks for the great work, guys.” I said and handed 100 Lien cards to each of the men. They each clapped me on the back and waved as they went back into the shop.

“Thank you for choosing our shop for your purchases.” The clerk said and his smile looked like it was permanently etched onto his face. I had spent a lot of money at his shop and he was very happy about that.

“It was Yang's recommendation to come here, so I'll be sure to let everyone know about the great service you guys provide.” I said and put on Ruby's helmet. I had to help Yang put on hers and climb onto the motorcycle, because she was kind of catatonic and looked lost.

“Have a great day!” The clerk said and watched us drive out and shut the garage door behind us.

I wasn't surprised to see the closed sign appear in the door and for the lights to go out. It made me wonder if they did that after every large sale they had and I mentally shrugged. It didn't matter, because Eye just found a huge open stretch of highway for us to drive on. I made my way over to the on-ramp and slowed down and came to a stop before taking it.

It took ten minutes of lightly shaking her and talking loudly before Yang seemed to come out of her shock and realized she had the opportunity to cut loose with her baby. She slid forward on the seat of the motorcycle and started it up again. She patted the seat behind her and I climbed on and hugged her close to add my mass to hers.

Yang would be driving to the limits of her ability and I needed to be as small of a burden to her as possible. We were lucky that I had covered us in a notice-me-not spell as well, because the police would have chased us down and arrested us within the first minute after we blew by them at full speed. The term Crotch Rocket described exactly what we were riding for the next twenty minutes.

Thankfully, the traffic was light and Yang didn't slow down at all as she weaved in and out of traffic like a professional motorcycle driver. Her whoops of joy and loud laughter could be heard through the helmets, even at the ridiculous speed we were moving at. Having new tires really let her put the petal to the metal without worry or concern.

I dropped the notice-me-not when we pulled into the transport hub and our joyride was over. Yang's arms were trembling from the adrenaline rush as we slowly inched forward and we were the last ones loaded onto the airship. I paid the fee for the motorcycle when we reached the ticket officer and it was the same guy, so he waved the fee for two people.

I handed him a hot coffee and a doughnut without a word and he laughed as he accepted both and ordered the hatch closed. The airship took off and Yang's arms were still slowly shaking as we flew through the air towards Patch. I couldn't say anything out loud about it, not without having anyone else hearing us, so I did what I could to comfort her and moved my hands up and down her stomach to caress her exposed skin.

One of her hands let the handlebars go and she put it onto one of mine and held it still, her fingers intertwining with mine. I stopped my other hand as well and put it on top of hers, silently letting her know that I was trying to comfort her and wasn't trying to grope her or cop a feel.

The flight soon ended and we waited for everyone else to depart before Yang let my hand go and eased the motorcycle off of the airship. I nodded to the ticket officer as Yang started the bike up and I didn't ask if she wanted me to take over. We cruised at a sedate pace for the short drive back to her home and she parked outside the garage.

I hopped off the motorcycle and Yang sat there for a moment, then she reached into her pocket and fumbled with her Scroll. I caught it before she could drop it and I helped her open it up. She sent a text to Ruby and the garage door unlocked a minute later and slid up to reveal an excited Ruby holding it up for us. Yang moved the motorcycle into the garage and parked it again.

“You guys sure took your time.” Ruby said and closed the garage door and it locked automatically.

“We bought new tires and Yang had to try them out.” I said and took off her helmet to put it back on the hook on the wall where it was stored.

Ruby let out a little laugh. “Is that why she's shaking? Aftershocks?”

“Kind of. I think it's adrenaline rush withdrawal.” I said and took Yang's helmet off for her. I looked into her eyes and they were slightly dilated and her face was red with a blush. Her breathing was slightly heavy as well and she gripped the handlebars tightly.

“Wow, yeah. She got it bad.” Ruby giggled and went through the doorway into the house. “We'll have to wait for her to calm down before we can unload the groceries from the seat.”

I wasn't going to make Yang sit there for however long that was going to take, so I carefully pried her hands off of the handlebars and had her hug herself, then I picked her up in a princess carry and she snuggled into me as I carried her into the house and up to her room. When I tried to set her onto the bed, her hand darted up to lock around my neck.

“I don't have to worry about poaching you from Ruby if you're my friend, too.” Yang whispered and pulled me down into a kiss. It was only a simple press of our lips together, because she was more interested in making the initial contact instead of actually kissing me. She broke the kiss and let me go.

I could see her eyes were no longer dilated and her face wasn't flushed red anymore. “I'll get dinner started.”

Yang nodded and rolled over on her bed to turn her face away from me. I wasn't sure why she did that and mentally shrugged as I left her room. I went downstairs to the garage and pretended to pull the bags of groceries out of the seat and carried them into the house. Ruby didn't notice that there were more bags than could fit into the seat's storage and helped me put everything away.

I started preparing the beef roast and potatoes and Ruby sat at the kitchen table to watch me and munched on the chocolate chip cookies I bought for her. It was kind of funny as she constantly fed herself cookie after cookie without pausing or giving herself time to completely swallow the last one. I was sure if I set up a conveyor belt that served cookies, she would never do anything else except sit there and eat them forever.

Tiyang came downstairs when he smelled the roast cooking and looked surprised it was me working in the kitchen and it wasn't his daughter Yang, even though I said I was cooking dinner before. Maybe he thought Yang would object or something? Or maybe help out?

I started peeling the vegetables and cut them up into a pot of water, then set them to boil to finish at the same time as the potatoes and roast. There was nothing to make for the dessert, since it was bought fully made. The parfait cake was the trade-off Yang wanted for allowing me to cook the entire meal. I also didn't tell her it would be ten times more delicious if I bought the ingredients to make it myself.

“Hey, Ruby? While we wait for that to cook, why don't we get started on studying?” I asked as I sat beside her.

Ruby paused with a cookie halfway to her mouth and stared at me like I was crazy. Tiyang barked a laugh and sat down on her other side. He didn't say anything and only patted Ruby's back, making her sigh and she finished off the cookie in her hand and closed the pack. There was only about a quarter of them left, so it wasn't going to take long to finish it off later.

Ruby left the table and walked like she was heading to the gallows as she crossed the living room and went up the stairs. Her father chuckled the whole time as she did that and looked over at me when Ruby could no longer be seen.

“You've got your work ahead of you if you can get her to study anything besides weapons magazines and books on weapons manufacturing.” Tiyang said.

I sighed and leaned back on the chair. “If I had more time, I could do more than barely convince her that she needs to know more about different things to make her weapon crafting skills better.”

Tiyang nodded. “That approach should work, at least until you prove what she's learning has no practical application for her.”

I had to chuckle at that. “With that alone, I can get her going on math, physics, chemistry, and history.”

Tiyang's eyes widened at my boast.

“That's not bragging. I really can associate her skills with those subjects. It's trying to squeeze in anything like languages and writing book reports that makes things a little difficult.” I added.

“Not impossible?” Tiyang asked.

“I can coach it in terms of weapon analyzing and comprehensive reporting. The languages could be used to refer to having access to another country's manufacturing industry.” I commented and he looked surprised. “It's sneaky, I know. It's also true. If you send reports and requests in their native language and it's both legible and makes sense? They look at those first before looking at the common language ones.”

Tiyang sat there and stared at me like Ruby had when I suggested studying before dinner. I chuckled and hopped up to stir the pot of vegetables briefly and checked the roast. It would be done on time and I sat back down as Ruby came down the stairs carrying a backpack that she held like it was full of smelly things. That kept me laughing as she crossed the distance to the table and she dropped it on the table.

“It's not going to be that bad, Ruby.” I said and opened up the backpack.

“You say that now; but, I know what's in there.” Ruby said and plopped down onto her chair with a defeated sigh.

I pulled out a magazine with a picture of a sniper rifle on it and held it up.

“Oh! I forgot I left that in there.” Ruby said and snatched it out of my hand and started flipping though it. “There's a great article about the latest scopes and their improved accuracy near the back.”

Tiyang made a noise like he was stifling his laughter.

I wasn't going to let either of them derail the studying, though. “Did you know they use specific mathematical formulas to figure out how to form the lenses and the length of the scopes to set those lenses at the right distance apart to gauge that accuracy?”

Both Ruby and Tiyang stilled and gave me odd looks. Ruby's had more disbelief in it and Tiyang's had more surprise.

I opened up her math book and searched the index for the section on optics and flipped to the right set of pages. “Look, it's right here. The shape of the lenses set the magnification. When you use two lenses, the formula here shows how their magnifications compound at a set distance apart and they don't distort the image.”

Ruby dropped the magazine and her chair was suddenly beside mine and she had her head resting on my shoulder as she stared at the equations. “Wow, it really does show that. I thought you were just trying to distract me.”

I didn't laugh at her catching on to my trick, even though I should have known she would. “A lot of weapons manufacture depends on a lot of math, especially the tolerances for casings and moving mechanisms. You know how much a small burr on the edge of a piece of metal can screw up a mecha-shift.”

Ruby let out a soft growl. “Yes, and it still pisses me off when I think about it. I had to rebuild half of Crescent Rose's sliding rails when I missed that the first time I changed her to gun mode.”

I nodded. “Now imagine having two parts that are just a micrometre off because of a slight miscast.”

Ruby gasped and looked horrified.

“Yes, exactly. It would tear itself apart with two things that far off from specs.” I said and flipped the book closed. “That's how important math is to people like us.”

Ruby lifted her head from my shoulder and looked determined. “Okay. You know I had trouble with the rifling on the inside of the barrel on Crescent Rose slowing down the muzzle velocity. Can you show me how you fixed that with math?”

“My dear Ruby, I would be delighted to.” I said and flipped the book to the right page and started explaining it and how to apply it in real world applications.

Tiyang sat there and stared at us with a slightly stunned look on his face. He didn't move at all, even when Yang came down to check on the food. She let Ruby and I study as she finished putting the meal together and then had us move our study things to the living room. Tiyang ate dinner automatically, barely tasting it, and followed Ruby into the living room afterwards to watch us study all evening.

*

Yang didn't question why Ruby was walking with us to the transport hub in Patch. She knew the three of us had to head to school and she was a bit too preoccupied with all the people she was going to meet at Beacon and talking about all the great adventures she was going to have while there.

I shared a knowing look with Ruby, whom blushed and didn't say anything. I didn't want to ruin the surprise either, so I stayed quiet as well. The airship ride to Vale was the same as the other few times I had taken it and we landed as Yang kept talking. She paused briefly to say goodbye to Ruby as we walked over to the much larger airship that students from all over the world had gathered in to head to Beacon Academy.

Ruby had to hold her mouth shut and not laugh at the dismissal and being ignored after that. She stepped behind me and kind of out of sight as we entered the large airship among another group of students. Yang said hello to a few of them and some gave her attention and some shied away from her outgoing personality.

It made me wonder if people saw her as abrasive, even if she was so easygoing and enjoyed everything about her life. By the looks on some of their faces, they did. Some didn't know how to handle her and Yang knew which ones not to pester, probably because she had experience dealing with larger crowds. She was pretty popular in her old school, after all.

The trip to the academy was going to be longer than the trip from Patch, which was kind of funny. Why was it so far away from the capitol city? Was it just for prominence as it was on a kind of plateau that was above everything else, or was it a statement of its importance?

“Look at that view!” Ruby exclaimed and tugged on my arm to point out at the far away mountain range as the airship flew over the huge forest below us that I could feel hints of corruption inside of.

Yang's running commentary suddenly cut off as she stared at her sister. “Ruby?!? What are you doing here?”

Ruby giggled like a little girl that got away with a great prank. “I'm going to Beacon, too!”

Yang's mouth dropped open and she kept staring at her.

I had to laugh at that reaction and Ruby joined me.

“You... you... you're not kidding? You're really going to Beacon?” Yang asked.

“She was invited by Professor Ozpin personally.” I answered and Ruby blushed.

“S-so were you.” Ruby managed to say and then squeaked like a toy when Yang lunged and hugged her tightly.

“I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best thing ever!” Yang nearly shouted.

“P-p-please s-stop.” Ruby groaned under the tight squeeze.

Yang realized she was hugging her a little too tightly and let her go. “But, I'm sooo proud of you!”

“R-really, sis. It was nothing.” Ruby tried to deny.

“What do you mean it's nothing? This is incredible!” Yang denied right back and motioned to the rest of the students on the transport. “Everyone at Beacon is going to think you're the Bee's Knees!”

“I don't want to be the bee's knees, okay? I don't want to be any kind of knees. I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees.” Ruby said with a sigh.

I made a snort sound and both girls turned to look at me as I tried to muffle my laugh.

“What is it?” Yang asked.

I calmed down quickly and explained. “The last time I heard someone proclaiming to be normal, despite the obviousness of them not being normal, they were instrumental in saving the world. When Ruby said what she did to gain Professor Ozpin's attention wasn't a big deal and she's just a normal girl, it made me laugh.”

“What did you do?” Yang asked her.

Ruby gave me a small glare and then sighed before she explained what happened during the robbery she had been caught in, then about Glynda Goodwitch appearing and saving her, and then about my own contribution to the fight near the end. Thankfully, she didn't know that Roman Torchwick and Cinder Fall hadn't made it out of the Bullhead transport alive and couldn't spill that secret.

Yang looked at me, at Ruby, then back at me again. She opened her mouth, closed it, then looked back at her sister. “Why aren't you excited about doing all of that and getting into Beacon?”

“I am excited! I just...” Ruby paused for a moment. “I got moved ahead 2 years and I don't want people to think I'm special or anything.”

Yang's expression softened and she put an arm over Ruby's shoulders to give her a partial hug. “But, Rubes! You are special. You're my little sister and I love you.”

Ruby blushed and ducked her head to try and hide in plain sight.

“That's what I've been trying to tell her.” I said and they both looked at me. “It's what you do that defines you. There aren't a lot of people that would have stepped up like she did to confront a gang as they robbed a store and then chased down the leader when he fled. That takes bravery, and a little recklessness, to stand up to bad people like that.”

Ruby was really blushing from embarrassment now. “Johhhhn.”

“You actually do like my sister, huh?” Yang asked me.

“Of course I do. She's great.” I said and Ruby looked faint as she looked away. “I like you, too.”

Yang made an odd sound and blushed as she looked away as well. Before I could embarrass them any further, the holographic display on the side of the main area changed to show the news.

“A downed airship in the city over the weekend caused some minor disruption in the traffic on the east side and no other incidents have been reported.” A man said in front of the spot where the airship had crashed, only there were work crews repairing the pavement and no ship was there. “Back to you in the studio, Jill.”

“Than you, Cyril.” A white-haired woman said, her voice stoic. “In other news, last Saturday's Faunus Rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony and caused property damage and a few injuries to the local police. The once peaceful organization has now disrupted several...”

The screen cut off and disappeared in the middle of the broadcast. A few people made upset noises at that, then a tone gained everyone's attention and they all turned towards where the screen had been. A familiar figure formed out of holographic light and I smiled at seeing her again.

“Hello, and welcome to Beacon.” Glynda's hologram said.

“Who's that?” Yang asked.

“My name is Glynda Goodwitch.” The hologram said, answering her question.

“Oh.” Yang said with a shrug.

“You are among the privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future hunters and huntresses, it will be your duty to uphold it.” Glynda told us. “You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world.”

The hologram faded away and I felt like there should have been something else said there, like congratulations or this is the start of your new lives or something.

Ruby walked over to the closest window. “Wow! You can see our old school from up here.”

“And the new one.” Yang said and put her arm back over Ruby's shoulders as her other hand pointed to the academy. “Our new home isn't too far away, since we'll be living at Beacon from now on.”

“For the next 4 years, anyway.” I said as I stepped up beside Ruby and both girls nodded.

The rest of the flight was spent in silence as we watched the scenery pass by. The airship flew up above a huge cliff face and turned to come to a rest next to a huge platform. The docking ramp extended and attached to the platform and the side doors opened to let the students out.

We followed the large group out and both Yang and Ruby made sounds of awe, as did quite a few of the other students when they saw the large castle-like appearance of Beacon Academy.

“The view from Vale's got nothing on this.” Yang said with satisfaction.

I did not comment that I've seen better... or built better... or could remake all of it if I wanted to.

Ruby made more startled sounds as her eyes darted from student to student that had visible weapons out and deployed, now that they weren't inside an airship where it was restricted. She whispered comments about the different types as they walked by her and she almost had little hearts in her eyes and looked genuinely happy.

“Easy there, little sister.” Yang said and grabbed her hood when Ruby tried to follow a girl wielding a fire sword. “They're just weapons.”

“They're not just weapons, Yang! They're extensions of ourselves! They are a part of us!” Ruby exclaimed and gestured emphatically and then made cooing sounds. “They are sooo cool!”

“Then why aren't you swooning over your own weapon?” Yang asked her. “Aren't you happy with it?”

Ruby pulled her compact weapon out from behind her back and deployed it into scythe mode. “Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose! I'm more than happy with it, actually.” She said and hugged it. “I just like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people... but, better.”

“Ruby.” Yang said with a sigh. “You could go out there and try to make friends of your own.”

Ruby sighed, too. “Why would I need friends when I have you?”

“Well, actually...” Yang hedged as four people we didn't know suddenly appeared around her. “...my friends are here now and wegottagobye!”

“Wait! Where are you going?” Ruby asked as Yang and her friends ran away. “Aren't we supposed to go to our dorms or something? Where are our dorms? Do we even have dorms?” She stopped as Yang's form disappeared into the crowd of other students. “What... what am I going to do now?”

I put my hand on her shoulder and smiled at her. “Don't worry, Ruby. I know where we need to go.”

“How?” Ruby asked.

“Common sense. We head to the school and ask.” I said and she blushed slightly, then she nodded.

“Excuse me.” A snooty female voice said from behind us. “You are in my way.”

“That's because you're too self-absorbed in your own needs to understand that you can divert your path slightly to accommodate others besides yourself.” I said without turning around.

The gasps from the nearby students was kind of satisfying.

“How dare you.” The voice said, clearly angry. “I am Weiss Schnee and the heiress of...”

“Is someone speaking? I can't hear self-entitlement very well.” I interrupted her and still didn't turn around to look at her. “Everyone here was invited and everyone should be on the same footing. Fame and fortune shouldn't matter. Families and politics back home shouldn't matter. We are all students here and we are here to learn to protect the world with our skills and abilities. That's all.”

There were a few surprised sounds and I thought I heard a soft purr and a growl nearby.

“Let's go, Ruby. I heard there's a kind of party in the main hall that we must attend. We were invited personally by Professor Ozpin, after all.” I said and more gasps came from the crowd around us.

Ruby looked embarrassed as I took her hand and walked with her through the people still there.

“Shoulders straight and head high.” I whispered and she did as I asked. “We earned the right to be here and no one can tell us we don't deserve it.”

Ruby nodded and kept pace with me, her face still red. “J-John...”

“I know you don't want people to think you're special, except there's a problem with that.” I said and she gave me her full attention. “Everyone here is special in their own way. Everyone.”

Ruby looked confused by that.

“What's the only way to be normal in a place where everyone is considered special?” I asked instead of explaining.

Ruby's eyes widened and she caught her breath. “To be special.”

“Exactly. In order to not stand out, you need to fit in. To fit in, you need to be like everyone else.” I clarified for her and she nodded in understanding. If you weren't exceptional at an exceptional school, then you stood out from everyone else.

We made our way to the main building and I followed my buddy Eye as he led us to the main hall. A few of the students had already gathered there and I brought us over to be near them and not with them. It gained us a few searching looks from the students and then shrugs.

“They won't be serving food in the cafeteria until lunchtime, so we have some free time to either hang out or explore the grounds. The announcements and welcoming speeches won't be until this afternoon.” I said loudly enough that the nearby students also heard me. “I vote for hanging out. We can worry about finding things on campus when classes start the day after tomorrow.”

Ruby didn't verbally respond and only nodded.

“I'll go grab some chairs.” I said and Ruby looked startled as she held onto my hand for dear life. I chuckled and patted her hand. “I saw a few in the side room right there. I'll grab a stack and bring them back, all right?”

Ruby reluctantly let my hand go and gave me a sad look.

I leaned in and kissed her cheek. “I won't leave your sight for more than a few seconds. I promise.”

Ruby blushed and nodded, so I walked backwards and kept walking backwards. This started to gain a lot of attention as I avoided bumping into other people and I didn't stop walking until I was near the door. I reached back and opened it, gave everyone a short bow, and jumped through the doorway.

I created a bunch of stackable plastic chairs with metal legs, comfortably formed for easy sitting, sorted them into two piles of 15, and picked them up in each hand. I had to duck back through the doorway and carried them over to where a stunned Ruby still stood, the students near her wearing similar expressions.

I put the two stacks down against the wall nearby, pulled two of them off the top of one of the stacks, and placed them beside Ruby. “Your throne awaits, my lady.” I said and bowed regally as I presented the plastic chair to her, making a few people laugh.

Ruby made an 'eep' sound, getting more laughs, and she sat down as she tried to glare at me. All it did was make her look cute and a few of the students around us easily noticed.

I moved my chair around to face hers and sat down myself, crossed my legs in a figure four, and leaned back to cross my arms. “So, what do you think the classes are going to be like here? This is the premiere academy in the entire country, after all.”

“The entire world, actually!” A girl's excited voice corrected me.

I turned my head slightly and saw a young woman that wore moderate clothing and had short orange hair. “I didn't know that.” I said and uncrossed my legs to stand and I held a hand out towards her. “John Hansen. I grew up outside of the walled cities and didn't have access to scrolls or the net until I showed up here in Vale a couple days ago.”

“You're kidding!” She gasped and took my hand to shake it several times. Her grip was surprisingly strong for such a slender figure. “I'm Nora Valkyrie and this is Ren Lie.”

“We're not much different from you.” Ren commented and gave me a look up and down and didn't offer his hand to shake. “We're orphans from a destroyed village in Mistral.”

I nodded with respect at that, because crossing continents as teenagers was a huge deal. “It's nice to meet you both.”

“I don't see a weapon anywhere.” Nora said as she let my hand go and leaned to the right to look behind me and then to the left. “You're not going to get far in the academy without one.”

I smiled. “It will show up when necessary.”

“Oh?” Nora asked, interested. “I heard about people using Semblances to call weapons before.”

I didn't correct her, because Glynda had warned me about telling people I could heal things. “It's quite the surprise when things show up out of supposedly nowhere.”

Nora laughed. “It sure is! I bet you've surprised a lot of people pulling that trick off.”

“A few.” I said and glanced at Ruby, whom looked smug, because only she and Glynda had seen me store my plasma rifle. “Grab a chair and have a seat.”

“Thanks!” Nora said and went to the stacks and grabbed two of them and tossed them over to me. I caught them and set them down a short distance away as to not crowd Ruby or forced Nora and Ren to sit with us.

Ren nodded at me and sat down as if he had practised it to perfection.

“Ah, martial arts?” I asked and he looked surprised. “Your controlled movements gave it away.”

Ren sighed and Nora laughed as she plopped down onto her chair and relaxed. “You see? I told you people would know right away! Ha ha ha!”

“I have experience with it, that's all. Most people won't notice.” I said and nodded at the other students nearby, whom looked confused. “You can all help yourselves to the chairs if you're waiting for permission. They're free for you to take.”

A bunch of thanks came from them and most of the remaining chairs were taken and set up nearby in groups, as if they planned it. Their chatting resumed and the atmosphere of the room was almost immediately lighter.

“That was nice of you.” Nora said as she partially reclined like I was with her arms crossed and legs set apart, except she was wearing a skirt and it gave me a very nice shot of her white lace panties. I had to admit that the little blue bow was a nice touch.

Ren sighed and patted her knee before he moved it to touch her other knee.

“Huh? What?” Nora asked and looked down. “Oh, right. Sorry.”

Ren rolled his eyes in a practised manner. “At least you didn't flash the whole room this time.”

Nora shrugged before she looked at my calm face and tilted her head slightly. “Weren't you turned on by that?”

“I would have been if you two weren't so obviously together.” I said and both Nora and Ren choked and muttered denials and curses. I ignored that, of course. “I've never stepped into someone else's relationship or ruined it for them, even when I was highly attracted to one of them, and I'm not going to start now.”

Nora, Ruby, and Ren blinked their eyes a couple of times each as if trying to sort through that.

“Is that why you didn't try to make a move on me after yesterday afternoon?” Yang asked as she and her friends from Signal walked over.

“Kind of. I didn't know if you had a boyfriend, or a girlfriend, or if you liked someone, or anything else. It's the same with Ruby, too. We've only known each other for a day and a half and we've only talked about vehicles, weapons, modifications, and maintenance. Jumping right into things like relationships without looking first, usually leads to heartbreak.” I told her. “Usually mine, actually.”

That had everyone around us stop talking to look over at me.

“But, that's neither here nor there.” I said and stood up. “I'll go grab some more chairs for you and your friends to sit down.”

Yang sat on mine instead of waiting, making Ruby swat her for it. She just laughed at the silent rebuke as I went to the side door and made several more stacks of chairs inside, in case someone else showed up and wanted something to sit on. I brought another stack of chairs over to the group and everyone sat down and started talking.

I sat off to the side a little, trying to not crowd Yang's friends, and I didn't have to contribute too much to what they talked about. It was mostly about things that happened in school, so I was out of my depth there. I did manage to get the focus of the conversation to be more about weapons, so Ruby's knowledge and expertise was immediately shown. It made her happy because people other than her sister and myself were talking to her.

Lunch was announced and we moved, almost as one group, to the cafeteria. We all grabbed large meals, because Hunters and Huntresses had healthy appetites, and we all sat at the closest tables to the doors. Almost everyone noticed how rough and uncomfortable the chairs were in comparison to the ones in the main hall.

I mentally laughed at their complaints about not having the best chairs where they would be sitting the most, because they forgot they would be sitting in class a lot more than they would be at meals. I didn't say anything about it, though. Maybe I could alter the classroom's chairs and no one will notice? It was something to consider later.

The meal was finished up fairly quickly, even with the stragglers that came in late, and we all went back to the main hall to see the stage at the far end of the hall had both Glynda Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin milling around. All of the students gathered around the stage as Ozpin approached the microphone Glynda had just finished setting up.

“I'm not one for long speeches, so I will keep this brief.” Ozpin said. “You have all travelled here today in the search for knowledge. To hone your craft and to acquire new skills.” He paused briefly. “When you're finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people.”

“I thought he said he was keeping this brief.” A male voice whispered and a few people chuckled.

“But, I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose and direction.” Ozpin said. “You assume knowledge will free you of this; but, your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only take you so far. It is up to you to take the first step.”

We all watched as he walked off the stage and Glynda took his place at the microphone.

“You will gather in the ballroom tonight to sleep and to mingle with your fellow students. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready.” Glynda's voice was sexy, even when delivering a warning. “The grounds are open for exploring, as long as you return by curfew. You are dismissed.”

Everyone around us started talking about the speech and the warning.

“Ozpin seemed kind of off... almost like... he wasn't even there.” Yang commented.

“He's probably made the same speech every year since he took over the school.” I pointed out. I then saw Glynda disassemble the microphone stand. “I need to talk to Miss Goodwitch before she leaves.” I said and started walking towards the stage. “If I'm not back in a few minutes, I'll meet you all in the ballroom tonight.”

Surprisingly, no one called out to me or asked me why. When I glanced back at the group, I saw Ruby's hand over Yang's mouth, making me chuckle. I gave them a short wave and made my way through the other students to the stage. I hopped up onto it without using the stairs and Glynda looked up from where she was winding up the long microphone cord.

“Mistress Goodwitch.” I said and gave her a slight bow. “I'd like to talk to you, if you have a moment or two you can spare.”

Glynda looked out at the retreating students and nodded as she handed me the partially rolled up cord. “Finish rolling that up as you follow me to the back.”

“Yes, ma'am.” I said and easily walked at her set pace as I wrapped the cord into a perfect coil. She gave me an approving nod at my efficiency and carried the microphone stand pieces as we went backstage to where the main sound equipment was set up. She pointed to where the cord needed to go as she disconnected the other end and I stored the cord in the cabinet.

“This way.” Glynda said and I followed her out through a side door and into a hallway.

I let Eye map everything as we walked through several corridors and reached an elevator. We rode it up to the top floor and stepped out into a nice waiting area. I kept following her and we entered what I assumed was her office. She pointed to the chair in front of her desk and she waited for me to sit before she did something unexpected.

Instead of walking around her desk and sitting on her comfortable chair, she stepped in front of where I sat and perched her ass on the front edge of her desk with her arms crossed under her breasts. She gave me a searching look and didn't say anything, so I took that as permission to look and admired the sight before me.

Her dark pants hid a lot of detail and also hugged her form enticingly. Her half-corset cinched at her waist to give her a very appealing hourglass figure, enhancing her considerable chest even more. The white blouse had a peekaboo hole cut out over her breasts and practically invited the eyes to feast upon her exposed skin. Her cape framed her body perfectly and drew even more attention to her choice of outfit, completing the whole package.

“Are you enjoying the view, John?” Glynda asked, her voice held both amusement and patience.

“Of course I am, Mistress Goodwitch.” I said and locked my eyes onto her own. “You've given me the perfect opportunity to admire you in silence and without pressure. Why wouldn't I enjoy it?”

Glynda smiled briefly and let it fade. “You wished to speak to me?”

“Wish is a very strong word.” I said and smiled briefly myself. “I just wanted to apologize about the abruptness of our last parting. I hope I didn't insult you by not accepting your generous offer of a place to stay or caused you distress as you worried about me being out there in the world without you nearby.”

Glynda opened her mouth to say something, then she sighed. “I wasn't insulted that you wanted to save me some paperwork and stopped me from calling in favors with Professor Ozpin and the kitchen staff. However, you are right and I was worried about you. It didn't occur to me until the next morning that you had no way to contact me if you needed any help.”

I stood up and put myself almost dangerously close to her and her eyes stayed locked onto mine. “That was my own oversight as well. I didn't manage to get a scroll until yesterday afternoon after I realized I couldn't borrow Ruby's or Yang's to call you.”

Glynda reached up and adjusted her glasses with her hand, paused as she looked thoughtful for a few seconds, then she rested the same hand on my chest. She didn't say anything and just left it there for a moment, then moved it over and above my heart. Her aura pulsed purple for second and I caught my breath as my own aura pulsed back and a golden glow covered her hand.

“As I suspected.” Glynda said and moved her hand away and the joined glows faded. “I'm glad you did manage to refuse my offer if this is how we would react around each other.” She said and her sexy voice was like music to my ears. “You can feel how strong it can be, too?”

I nodded and reached up with my own hand to take hers and slid it back over my heart to hold it there. Our auras snapped back into place and she sucked in a sharp breath. “Ironically, I just finished telling my friends how I've learned to not jump into a relationship as soon as I meet someone I'm compatible with.”

Glynda smiled sexily and leaned in and pressed her nose to mine. Her height was only a couple of inches higher than my own of 5 foot 8 inches, because of her heeled boots, so it wasn't awkward for either of us. I slid my hands around her waist and hugged her close.

“You are wiser than your apparent age would suggest.” Glynda whispered and her other hand reached up and rested on my chest as well. “I've already told you we can't pursue any kind of relationship, even if you are of legal age.” She said and moved her head slightly to rub the tip of her nose against mine. “You are my student and I am your teacher. It would be highly inappropriate for us to spend any time together outside of classes.”

I noticed that she didn't tell me to leave or tried to move away, which meant she was either reluctant to stop or she wanted this moment to last for as long as possible, probably because she would actively stop it from happening in the future.

“Initiation isn't until tomorrow, Mistress Goodwitch.” I reminded her and her breathing sped up. “I won't be your student until I pass the entrance exam with full marks.”

Glynda leaned back slightly, our noses no longer touching, and she kept staring into my eyes. “Your confidence could be a turn off if I wasn't sure you will succeed.” She said and then blushed slightly. “You don't care that I'm over a decade older than you, do you?”

“No, your age doesn't matter to me.” I answered her. “I also hadn't realized I would be even more attracted to you than I already was, after you unlocked my aura.”

Glynda let out a half-sigh and half-huff. “You are making it quite difficult to say no to a brief dalliance with you, John.”

“Brief?” I asked and she nodded.

“Once you are a student, for the next four years, we cannot be involved in a personal way.” Glynda informed me and I tried to not let my disappointment show.

“Does that mean I can't live with you during the breaks between semesters?” I asked to try and distract the both of us from the potential we could have together.

Glynda shook her head and looked sad for a moment. “I stay here at the academy for most of the school year and only leave during the mandatory two weeks of vacation Professor Ozpin forces me to take every summer.”

I nodded, because that meant there was no time for her to socialize, even if I wasn't going to be a student. “Then... it saddens me to say... that you're right. A brief dalliance wouldn't settle my heart at all if I couldn't hold you like this anymore, Glynda.”

Glynda's slight blush became a full one. “John, I... this is...”

“I know. The potential is staggering.” I whispered and looked deep into her eyes. “I don't want you to regret it if we slept together, so I won't even make the offer.”

Glynda sighed and her blush slowly faded. “I wish we could, John. I do.”

“I do, too.” I said and leaned in to briefly kiss her cheek. “I won't doom either of us to four years of heartache as we watch each other force themselves to ignore the other after being together. We both know how much torture that can be.”

Glynda nodded and slid her hands down from my chest as our auras faded and let her hands fall to her sides. “I'm glad we could get this situation cleared up.”

I let her waist go and stepped back. “I want to say that four years isn't a long time to wait, except we both know what the world is like out there.”

Glynda nodded again and sat back on the edge of her desk as she crossed her arms under her chest once more. “We are in a relative time of peace... and that is the point.”

“It's relative and could change at any moment.” I said and stepped around the chair instead of sitting down again. “I'm going to do my best to prevent that from happening, Mistress Goodwitch.”

Glynda looked sad for a moment at me not using her first name, then her face went to her usual stern expression. “We at Beacon Academy will do our best to teach you how to do that, Mister Hansen.”

I smiled at her understanding that we had to distance ourselves verbally as well as physically. “Thank you, Mistress Goodwitch. I look forward to learning as much as I can.”

Glynda nodded. “You are dismissed.”

I gave her a slight bow and walked to her office door. When my hand was on the handle and about to turn it, she spoke one last sentence.

“I do regret not being able to accept your feelings, Mister Hansen.” Glynda said.

I didn't turn around as I responded. “As do I, Mistress Goodwitch.” I opened the door and stepped out, letting it swing shut behind me. “As do I.”

With a soft click, the door closed on both the office and the potential relationship between us.

I walked down the hallway to the elevator and rode it down to the ground floor. No one was around, so I walked down the hallway to the lobby and exited the main building. I looked up at the darkening sky and caught my breath at the partially shattered moon that hung in the sky.

“Hey, Eye. Do you think we have enough time to sneak off and set up a few satellites in high orbit?” I asked the air beside me. “We need to start surveying the local airspace.”

“Beep boop.” Eye answered.

I chuckled at his suggestion for a full space station with an attached satellite network. “If we had all night to work, maybe. We have to be back by curfew.”

“Beep.” Eye said, sadly.

“I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunities after school starts, like during the first weekend.” I consoled him and patted his drone body.

“Beep?” Eye asked.

“Yes, I've been gathering lands this whole time. It's slow going with having to physically touch them and not being able to use the Force or any other distance abilities like magic.” I said, not really complaining. This world was a mess and I knew coming in that I would be handicapped.

“Boop.” Eye agreed.

“Then let's find a spot nearby that's out of the surveillance range of the academy's cameras. The sooner we board an automated Firefly, the sooner you can start gathering more data.”

“Beep!” Eye said happily and led me towards the large cliff drop-off called Forever Fall that was above the Emerald Forest. It was quite a coincidence that the best place to launch a space ship was also the place where the headmaster of Beacon Academy launched prospective students to see if they could handle a real-life combat situation.

*

Yang had let her friends from school slowly drift away to mingle with the other students. She had already changed into her sleep clothes and sat down with her sister Ruby on a pair of provided sleeping bags. She was mostly listening to what her sister was saying about all the people Ruby had managed to talk to today, only Yang's mind wasn't really paying attention.

Her thoughts were locked onto what John had said about not really knowing her and not wanting to ruin anything she might have with someone else. That meant he was a lot more considerate of her feelings than anyone else she had ever met, and that included her sister, her father, and her uncle. How could someone she only knew for a couple of days make her feel like everyone else in her life wasn't paying as much attention to her as he was?

“Yang?” Ruby said her name like it was a question and Yang didn't respond. “Yang? YANG!”

“SHHHH!” All of the unnamed students around them hushed her.

“S-s-sorry!” Ruby said and pulled her sleeping bag up over her head. Her face was bright red from embarrassment and she tried to hide it as much as she could.

Damn, there goes all of the confidence she built up today, and it's all my fault. Yang thought and sighed. “I'm sorry, Rubes. I was thinking about something and...” She paused and tried to come up with how to describe what she was thinking about. She couldn't outright say what her thoughts had pointed out to her, because that might hurt Ruby's feelings more than embarrassing her had.

“It... it's okay. I shouldn't have yelled.” Ruby said, her blush not fading. “What I was saying wasn't important, anyway.”

Double damn. Yang thought and tried to not sigh at Ruby putting herself down again.

“Some of the people here are trying to sleep, that's true.” A male voice said as it neared them. “That doesn't mean what you said is unimportant, Ruby. It was just a lot louder than it should be.”

Both girls quickly turned to look at him with nearly identical smiles on their faces, which froze when they saw that he was wearing a pair of boxers to sleep in and nothing else. The end of the sleeping bag over Ruby's head dropped back to the floor.

“However, if you hadn't yelled, I wouldn't have found you as quickly.” John said with a smile and came to a stop in front of the two sisters.

“Hey, John.” Yang said, her easygoing nature letting her hide her reaction to how much she was turned on by his sexy muscles. She also wanted to thank him for reassuring her sister and couldn't, not with Ruby right there beside her.

“H-hi!” Ruby said, her voice slightly shaky. Her face hadn't lost the blush, either.

“So, am I cuddling the blonde or the brunette tonight?” John asked and softly laughed at making them both blush. “If we had a redhead, I'd have a trifecta of beauties to cuddle with.” He said and then looked right at Ruby. “Then again, you have red highlights along the edge of your hair, don't you?”

Ruby made an 'eep' sound and pulled the sleeping bag back over her head.

John laughed and picked up the sleeping bag beside Ruby and set it across the end of hers and Yang's. He sat on it and glanced around. “Maybe I need a full brunette and perhaps another color as a distraction?”

“Please don't say white. Please don't say white. Please don't...” Ruby babbled under her breath.

“I've never met someone with orange hair before I saw Nora today.” John said and barely stopped his laugh when he heard Ruby's muffled 'thank goodness'. “I wonder if... oh, there's one.”

Yang and Ruby stared at him as he stood and waved at someone.

“Hey! Cute girl with the orange hair standing by the wall! Can you come over here?” John asked, surprising a lot of people around him, especially Yang and Ruby.

To their shock, the girl waved back and started to make her way over to them.

“A-are y-you c-crazy?!?” Ruby asked, her voice panicky, and she reached up to grab the only cloth he was wearing and yanked on it. “Sit down! Everyone's staring at us and...” Her mind blanked right then, because she didn't pull John down to sit beside her like she planned. Nope, not at all. Instead, the only thing she pulled down was his boxers.

Of course, this action gained much more attention than John's shout had. The guys immediately turned their heads away to look anywhere else and all of the girls made sounds of appreciation and some of them gave him greedy looks.

The girl with the orange hair looked down at him and back up at his face. “Is this supposed to be a naughty sleepover? I overheard one of the other girls mention things like that didn't happen until we formed teams.” She said and then pulled off her nightdress and dropped it to the floor, showing everyone that she wasn't wearing any underwear.

The girls stared at her for only a moment, because John's member automatically reacted to seeing a pretty girl naked right in front of him and all of them made appreciative sounds.

“Oh, hello.” The girl said and stepped close, practically hiding him from everyone's view, and her hand reached down to lightly stroke him. “It's nice to meet you. My name is Penny Polendina.”

Yang and Ruby stared at them with their mouths hanging open and with dazed eyes.

John reached out and put his arms around Penny and pulled her in close, hiding most of her own nakedness from view. “It's nice to meet you too, Penny. My name is John Hansen.”

Penny smiled at him, her hand never stopping. “We are no longer strangers, John. Does that mean we can become friends now?”

John smiled as well. “That's why I asked you to come over. I wanted to introduce myself to you so we could become friends.” He said and glanced down at her still stroking him. “I didn't expect this to happen so soon, though.”

Penny's smile never wavered. “So soon? You planned to do this with me? That's great! We're advancing our friendship so quickly! Thank you.” She said and leaned in to kiss him passionately.

Yang and Ruby kept staring at what the two people right in front of them were doing. Their faces were flushed red and their bodies were heating up, because they both wished they could be in Penny's place. John on the other hand, reached down and stopped Penny's hand from continuing to move.

Penny let out a surprised sound and broke the kiss as she looked into John's eyes. “Is something wrong?”

John shook his head at her. “I'm not objecting to the act, just the time and place.”

Penny nodded and looked sad at the rejection. She let his member go and tried to step back, only for John to keep holding her close with his other hand.

“I have a sleeping bag right here.” John whispered and nodded down at the thing across Yang's and Ruby's own sleeping bags. “If you'd like to join me, that is.”

“Yes, please!” Penny said happily and kissed him again. “Thank you!”

“Ladies, you don't mind, do you?” John asked.

Both Yang and Ruby shook their heads and moved aside slightly, then pulled his sleeping bag up between them and opened it, giving John and Penny plenty of room.

“Thank you.” John said and bent down to pick up his underwear before he climbed into the sleeping bag and laid down on his side. He did not put his underwear back on, however.

Penny picked up her nightdress and climbed in beside him and laid on her own side to face him.

“You may resume friendly operations while I do the same.” John whispered.

Penny's smile was huge as her hand slid down out of sight. John's own hand slid down and out of sight as well. A few moments later, everyone was surprised by the sexy moan Penny let out. Her whole body shivered at the sensations and then she froze up, her eyes almost impossibly wide.

“Are you okay?” John asked, concern in his voice.

“I'm f-fine. I just... the data... I mean information... no, the feelings are... hard to parse.” Penny stammered, clearly embarrassed at being caught out speaking so strangely.

John chuckled and his hand moved again, the sleeping bag bobbing up and down slightly, and Penny's body unfroze as she moaned again. “Then I should give you a lot more to parse out.”

“Yes, please!” Penny said happily and kissed him as her own hand started moving again and made the sleeping bag bob up and down even more. “Thank you!”

“You're welcome.” John said and kissed her again.

They both proceeded to give and receive a great mutual masturbation session right there in the middle of ballroom.

*

Both Glynda Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin stared at the holographic display and the sudden outbreak of sex it showed. They had been monitoring the students to see who formed preliminary teams and had been surprised with how sudden the girl from Atlas had accepted John's accidental invitation.

“I'm sure if Ruby hadn't disrobed Mister Hansen first, Miss Polendina wouldn't have acted like that.” Ozpin said and sipped his cocoa, his words didn't reassure his colleague in the least. “It does make me wonder why Ironwood decided to transfer her here instead of keeping her back in Atlas.”

Glynda couldn't tear her eyes away from the display as John seemed to be having his way with a girl he just met. That this happened right after him telling her that he knew better than to jump into relationships right away, only made her feel even worse for denying him and his feelings.

“Perhaps the sudden tragic end of Cinder Fall hastened his decision?” Ozpin asked and took another sip of cocoa. “It stopped her plans in Atlas in their tracks as her employees Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black retreated from there after word of her death reached them.”

“Where are they now?” Glynda managed to ask, despite her intense focus on the display.

“On their way here, or so the last report from Qrow said.” Ozpin said and tapped a closed folder on his desk. “They are going to investigate Cinder's death, according to his sources.”

Glynda nodded. “What about Mister Torchwick's henchwoman?”

Ozpin took a breath and let it out. “Neopolitan has been... problematic.” He said and slid a different folder over to her. “See for yourself.”

Glynda didn't bother reaching for it, because she knew he was teasing her about her reaction to seeing a naked John and then him getting into a sleeping bag with someone that wasn't her. “I can look at it later.”

Ozpin smiled slightly and took another sip of cocoa. He stayed silent as they watched the scene for several minutes. “You have to admire his technique.” He said as another wanton moan escaped Penny. “How long do you think he can keep...”

“Until I get there to stop him.” Glynda interrupted him and tore her eyes from the intimate act. She glared at Ozpin for a second and then stormed out of his office. The door slammed shut a second later.

“I warned you a long time ago to seize each precious moment when they appeared, my old friend.” Ozpin said and set his cocoa down on his desk. “Now we both have opportunities that we regret immensely.”

He watched the scene for almost a full minute before Glynda entered the ballroom with her riding crop swinging and icicles forming. Before she could launch them at her target, twenty bright red lasers fired from different positions around the room and destroyed them, shocking everyone in the ballroom.

“There are no rules against public fraternization.” John's firm voice said into the silence. “Neither I nor Penny are ashamed of our bodies and don't mind showing them off, as brief as it was.” He said and waved a hand to indicate everyone staring at them. “I also didn't hear any objections.”

Glynda looked both embarrassed and angry, because he had used her own rules against her. The chuckles and giggles from the other students didn't help as Glynda had to retreat without making them stop what they were doing inside the sleeping bag.

Ozpin smiled and picked up his cocoa mug and raised it as a salute. “Well played, Mister Hansen. Well played.”

*

I really hadn't intended to have some sexy playtime with the android named Penny so soon. I only wanted to introduce her around and to make friends with her, mostly to help her with her interpersonal skills. The fun times teaching her should have come much later... and yes, that pun was intentional. It was just too bad I couldn't say it out loud and let others enjoy it as much as I was.

Penny and I continued to play with each other right there under everyone's gazes, especially Yang and Ruby. Both girls stared at us with red faces and neither of them considered moving further away or even making more room for us. I didn't mention it, because I wasn't the only one they were concentrating on. Penny was a pretty girl and her body had been specifically sculpted to be pleasing to the eyes, no matter who owned those eyes.

Twenty minutes of Penny panting and enjoying herself later, with me not far behind, Yang was the first to shake herself out of her staring trance.

“I thought you said you didn't do things like this with someone you just met?” Yang asked me as her hand touched my shoulder.

“Penny's an exception to the rule. I couldn't deny her earnest request without hurting her feelings.” I said and looked at Penny's flushed face. “I was going to hug her right away anyway and this just hastened how many she'll get in the future.”

Penny beamed a smile at me and pulled me into another passionate kiss. She had learned quickly and became a very good kisser in a very short time.

“Wh-why aren't y-you s-stopping?” Ruby asked a few minutes later, probably because Yang's hand had moved from my shoulder to caress my back and then it went a little lower inside the sleeping bag.

“Penny needs more experience and I'm trying to decide if I should make a deposit into her hand to finish or get her a tissue.” I said, not bothering to lie.

There were several gasps and a lot of muttering about how lucky she was and then there were comments with genuine worry about ruining her Huntress career before it even started. Apparently, some of them thought she would get pregnant from mutual masturbation.

Penny looked slightly out of it for a moment and then her smile returned. “I am ready to receive your biological sample, John.”

I held in my laugh at that wording and sped up my hand movements, making her pant and moan a little loudly, then her hand sped up as well. She kept up the pace, despite the clear distraction I was forcing on her, then I unloaded myself into her hand. Or at least, it should have been her hand. I felt something open and it slid over the tip completely.

After a few seconds and a slight suction feeling, there was an almost audible whir and a click. Penny seemed to lose motor control of her limbs at that point and she rolled onto her back as she closed her eyes.

“Soooo... muuuchhhh...” Penny moaned and both Yang and Ruby blushed hard. Only I was close enough to hear her mutter one last word. “...data.”

I softly laughed and gave her cheek a kiss. “I'll help clean you up in the morning.”

“Thank you.” Penny said and went right to sleep as most of her main processors went into standby mode.

“Sleep is a great idea.” I whispered and turned my head to look at Yang. “I don't mind you snuggling in if you want to.”

Yang let out a soft moan and lifted the edge of my sleeping bag before she slid inside to hug me from behind.

“Yang!” Ruby hissed. “You promised not to!”

“I'm not stealing him from you, Rubes.” Yang said and I felt her kiss the back of my neck. “He's my friend, too.”

Ruby let out a sound, almost like a growl. “You're arguing semantics?”

I chuckled and motioned for Ruby to stand. “Hold your sleeping bag open.”

Ruby gave me an odd look and did as I asked. I gently pushed Penny over into Ruby's open bag and Ruby's eyes widened at the implication. I gave her a come here motion with my hand and she used her semblance to jump into the sleeping bag with me and a swirl of rose petals.

“Eep.” Ruby squeaked and her face was bright red, because her hands had touched my bare chest to catch herself and she remembered I was completely naked.

I ignored her reaction as I slid an arm under her shoulders and closed my eyes. “Goodnight.”

“Night.” Yang whispered and slid her own arm around my waist.

“G-g-g-g-goodnight.” Ruby stuttered and hugged my arm tightly.

Since I didn't want her staying up all night being nervous or worrying about what just happened, I cast a sleep spell on her. I let myself drift off to sleep and managed to ignore Yang's fingertips as they gently touched me down there. I couldn't really object after Penny had enjoyed having a little fun down there, too.

*

Ozpin was up early the next morning and looked forward to the initiation ritual. It always tickled something inside of him to watch teenagers on the brink of adulthood be thrown off of a giant cliff towards their potential deaths, just to see their reactions. It was quite revealing and showcased their true personalities with how they reacted to the situation.

He did his usual morning routine and prepared his mug of hot cocoa, sipped it when it was perfect, and cast a preservation charm and a refilling charm on it. One mug could last him all day, barring massive temperature changes around him, and he left his living quarters when Glynda knocked on his door.

They walked towards the ballroom and woke up the various students to let them wake up properly and to get dressed in their combat uniforms and to gather their weapons. Ozpin let his eyes roam over the relatively mundane mass of faceless students that he really couldn't care much about and mentally sighed at the almost uniformity of their types of clothes.

There were a few outliers that did not conform to the supposed standard and those his mind highlighted. He wasn't surprised it was the ones he had personally approved to be brought to his academy, because those individuals had proven previously that they deserved to be taught at his prodigious academy.

Of course, there was one that really stood out with his bright white and skin tight... was that a unitard or something? It looked like it was only one piece and it left nothing to the imagination, and neither did the large and oddly shaped rifle strapped to his back. Everyone was staring at him, especially the girls he had been near the night before, including that forward Penny girl.

Her forwardness had inspired a few of the other girls to approach the boys they liked and quite a few liaisons had happened the night before. It was nice to see that life was continuing right under his nose and it amused him to listen to Glynda's complaints about restructuring the established rules to cut down on the public acts of affection.

Ozpin let Glynda handle the introduction to the initiation this time, where the first person they locked eyes with was their partner. He concentrated on the faces of his chosen few and Ruby Rose in particular. Her silver eyes signified that she had hidden magic potential, just like her mother had, and he needed to keep an eye on her as she faced off against the Grimm to see if any of her latent magic abilities activated. They could be a huge boon to his fight against the ever-encroaching darkness.

“Good luck and good hunting.” Glynda Goodwitch said and hit the activation button to start the initiation. The launching platforms with giant springs under them shot out in sequence along the entire gathered group and flung them out over the Forever Fall cliffs towards the Emerald Forest and their trial against the culled Grimm there.

Out of all of them, only a few people didn't scream and holler as they were launched. Both Ozpin and Glynda focused on them and saw it was Ruby, her sister Yang, Penny, and John. The last two actually managing to hold hands as they met in the air and then each sent out retractable lines and caught both Yang and Ruby to pull them into a group.

“I'll warn them about cheating before the team announcement assembly.” Glynda said and made note of it.

“As you wish.” Ozpin said and hid his chuckle.

Again, there were no rules about ensuring who it was that you locked eyes with after you landed and he did not remind her that there were a few couples that had managed to stay together and be launched beside each other, like Nora and Ren. The girl had refused to let the boy go and they had been launched together from the same platform, much to the boy's dismay.

Ah, young love. How I envy them. Ozpin thought and sipped his hot cocoa as he watched the various camera views on Glynda's scroll, the middle one focused on John and his team. This year's initiation should be interesting.

*

I held onto the three girls and Penny brought us down to a mostly gentle landing with her hidden thrusters. Alone, she could fly for quite some time before her fuel reserves ran out, with three people hanging onto her, she slowed our decent down into a short fall instead of the hundreds of feet it had been.

“Thanks for the painless landing, Penny.” I said as I hugged and then kissed her.

“You're welcome, John!” Penny said with enthusiasm because she was a member of a team already.

“You technically cheated.” Yang pointed out.

“If you're not cheating, you're not trying hard enough.” Both Penny and I said at the same time, then we both laughed.

“If there's no rule against it, it's not really cheating.” I clarified for her and Ruby, making Penny nod. “Penny's ability to fly should have disqualified her from the first part of the initiation, because she can easily bypass the difficulty of figuring out how to save herself and maintain her Aura at its highest level.”

“So that's why they did it! To test us and weaken us!” Ruby exclaimed. “I knew there was a good reason for them to try and kill us.”

I chuckled as I put an arm over her shoulders and gave her a brief hug. “You also should have been disqualified, considering your Semblance and your flash movements can easily save you from any fall, no matter how high.”

Ruby blushed at the praise. “Th-thanks, John.”

“It's just the truth, Ruby.” I said and kissed her cheek.

“He's right, Rubes! You're awesome and don't let anyone tell you different.” Yang said and backed me up.

“Thanks, Yang.” Ruby said and her blush lessened.

I took my arm off of her shoulders and looked at Penny. “Have you finished scanning the area? Which way should we go and where's the closest Grimm?” I asked, even though I knew both answers. A team leader knew how to delegate and I wasn't going to ignore the people and resources around me.

“We are near the west section where most of the smaller Grimm are located, according to the last census poll from the hunters sent to cull the area of the larger predators.” Penny said and pointed. “The objective is in that direction and it is also where the largest concentration of Grimm are.”

“Of course it is.” Yang said with a chuckle and smacked her fist into her palm. “Then there's no choice but to plow through them to get those chess pieces.”

“That part I don't understand.” Ruby commented as the four of us jogged in the direction that Penny pointed. “Why tell us the person we meet is our partner if we also have to get chess pieces to make a team? What if they don't have enough of the same kind for us to take? Will they split us up if we're already teammates? That's not fair!”

“No, it isn't.” I said and pointed to the left. “I just saw some movement over there.”

“Scans show three Beowolves.” Penny said and then fake coughed. “I mean, I think there are three of them there.”

I chuckled. “We're a team, Penny. We'll all find out each other's capabilities soon enough, so don't feel awkward with how you word things.”

Penny smiled and nodded. “Thanks, John.”

“Ruby? Do you want to try out your reworked scythe blade on moving targets?” I asked.

Ruby pulled out her weapon from behind her back and deployed it.

“I'll take that as a yes.” I joked and she giggled. “Yang, make her an opening.”

Yang grinned at me. “You got it!” She said and charged up her gauntlets and lunged at a nearby tree, fired both shotgun shells at the same time, and shattered the trunk and sent most of it right through the area where I said there was motion.

The splinters of wood shredded the foliage that covered the three beowolves and they looked surprised for only a moment, because Ruby disappeared with a swirl of leaves and then a 'shink' sound echoed as her scythe cut through all three heads and she reappeared on the other side of them. The three Grimm fell over and started to dissolve into black clouds and their white masks faded away.

“Great work, everyone.” I said and Yang high-fived Ruby. “Let's keep going. These Grimm aren't going to kill themselves.”

“They won't have a chance to. It's our job now!” Yang said and pumped her fist into the air.

Ruby gave her a quick hug and we started running again.

*

“Very efficient, if a bit destructive.” Glynda whispered and Ozpin nodded.

“They are approaching one of the Ursa Minors. Let's see how they handle a bigger threat.” Ozpin said and took a sip of his hot cocoa.

They watched as the bear-like Grimm was slaughtered in only a few seconds. It had no clue what happened to it, because it had been hunkered down and was waiting to ambush the approaching humans, then a laser burned through its cover and sliced part of its mask off, a super-strong punch and a shotgun blast hit it in the stomach to double it over, and a huge scythe sliced up through its neck.

Both Glynda and Ozpin stared at the efficient take-down that even experienced hunter teams would have had a difficult time in executing, even with a few minutes of prep time, which John and his team didn't have.

“I believe we may have stumbled upon a very rare natural team once more.” Ozpin commented.

Glynda nodded her head in agreement, even though they had yet to see John's weapon come into play. Just as she thought that, the four of them entered a clearing and there were six smaller Grimm and John said he had it this time and aimed his weapon. A second later, all six creatures took a plasma bolt to the face and disintegrated.

Ozpin's mind needed a moment to process what he had seen. “Did he just fire a single shot plasma rifle like an automatic machine gun?”

“He... he did.” Glynda answered as her own mind went over her interactions with the young man. In the limited time she had known him, she never suspected that he could make such a game-changing alteration to his already overpowered weapon.

“I think I need to have a discussion with the young man about the possibility of reproducing his chosen armament.” Ozpin said and sipped from his mug. “After the team announcements, if possible.”

“Yes, sir. I'll try to arrange it.” Glynda responded and tried to not feel envy at seeing all three of the girls giving him a celebratory kiss. Ruby's bright blush when she realized she had kissed a boy, in public no less, almost made Glynda laugh at how cute she was.

In the secrecy of her own mind, Glynda had to admit that John had chosen his team wisely. He had long range himself, a heavy hitter in close combat in Yang, a combination of ranged assault and fast close combat in Ruby, and Penny's lasers could pick off or distract anything that the others couldn't handle alone.

The four of them combined would be able to face almost any situation in the field and they wouldn't be lacking in any skills. The balance worked for them and like Ozpin said, they moved like a veteran combat team that has been together for years. In fact, they were actually having fun as they fought the Grimm and their happy emotions protected them as their strong Auras attracted the creatures.

“Yes, I believe Team HRPY, or Team Harpy, is going to go far.” Ozpin said and sipped his drink.

Glynda nodded and kept watching John's team tear apart group after group of Grimm as they easily made their way towards the old ruins where the chess pieces were waiting for them to claim.

*

“You know, this was almost too easy.” Yang commented as we approached the old ruins.

“Yang!” Ruby gasped and smacked her arm. “You're not supposed to say things like that!”

“Why? We're done, right?” Yang asked. “There's nothing else that can happen...”

*CACAAAWWW! CAAWWWWW!*

“...sorry, guys.” Yang said as a huge bird-shaped shadow crossed over the entire ruin.

“It is a giant Nevermore.” Penny said and pointed at it. “My targeting lasers can't reach up that far.”

“I got it.” I said and unslung my weapon from the back strap and changed the firing mode before I aimed, leading the target as it flew fairly fast. “Fire in the hole!”

I pulled the trigger and the 'thoom' of the concentrated plasma bolt scared a few of the other hunters that were approaching the ruins. I ignored them and watched as the giant Grimm's head blew apart and then the body started to disintegrate.

“Ahhhhh!” A girlish scream came from a falling figure that clung to someone else.

“Penny, let's go!” I shouted and tossed my gun to Ruby as Penny grabbed me under my armpits. “Assault mode is the second switch! Keep the incoming Grimm suppressed!”

“Got it!” Ruby said and changed modes and aimed at the forest as dozens of black figures appeared behind the other hunters and huntresses, thanks to the fear and despair a few of them were broadcasting like a beacon. She started firing in short bursts and was careful to only hit the Grimm.

“We only have one shot to save them.” I said and Penny nodded. “I'm sharing my Aura with you to boost your reserves.”

“Thank you, John.” Penny said and we both started glowing. She gasped as her engines doubled in power and we streaked through the sky up towards the falling girls.

“Toss me at the last second to slow them down and change their momentum!” I shouted over the rushing wind.

“Get ready... three... two... one.” Penny did a mid-air flip and flung me as hard as she could.

“Great launch, Penny!” I shouted as I tumbled through the air and her calculations were perfect. I met the pair at the exact point to cause the least amount of damage to them and I grabbed them by their waists, making them lose half of their Auras. The impact changed their terminal velocity towards the ground into a 45 degree slower descent with my sideways momentum added to theirs.

“You're insane!” Weiss Schnee shouted at me as she clung to Pyrrha Nikos and I clung to them both.

“Don't worry, your highness. My teammate has this in the bag.” I said calmly.

Pyrrha gave me a wide-eyed look, clearly agreeing with the Schnee heiress that I was insane, then she gasped when Penny flew in underneath us and caught me, her afterburners kicking in once more as I shared my Aura with her and we all started slowing down.

“Ohhhh.” Weiss moaned as her white Aura blazed around her and she squeaked in embarrassment at making such a wanton sound.

Pyrrha was still staring at me with wide eyes, only now it was because of the strength of my Aura and hers had snapped right back to full strength in only a few seconds. Her face was also quite red and I knew she was fighting hard to not make any embarrassing pleasure sounds like Weiss had.

It wasn't my fault that my healing powers were orgasmic when I shared them. Honestly, it wasn't. I had to chuckle mentally as I admitted to myself that even I didn't believe that. My powers had been acting weird for so long that it actually made perfect sense that the women I was in contact with would really enjoy it when I shared energy with them.

Penny brought us down to the ground and both Pyrrha and Weiss clung to me for a few extra moments, because my energy was still feeding Penny to refill what she expended to save us. As soon as my Aura faded away, Weiss realized what she was doing and yelped as she jumped away from me. Pyrrha on the other hand, leaned in and kissed my cheek with a blush.

“We can have proper introductions later.” I said and she nodded. “Let's go help the others clear out the Grimm attack.”

“You're on.” Pyrrha said with a smile as she pulled out her weapon and it mecha-shifted into a spear.

“Nice.” I said and pulled out a plasma grenade. “I'll make a hole in the line for you.”

Pyrrha nodded with a serious look on her face and we ran towards the back of the huge pack of Grimm between us and the ruins. I threw the grenade and a small sun formed and consumed over thirty of the nasty beasts of all kinds.

“He really is insane.” Weiss said from behind us. Both she and Penny quickly caught up to us and they started firing into the rabble around the crater I had made.

“I've got the big one!” Pyrrha shouted and dove across the hole and skewered an Ursa Major, a giant bear-like Grimm, right through the head. She yanked the spear out and the creature started to dissolve as she swiped the head of the spear across the faces of the Grimm around her and made them all cry out and back off.

“Toss me!” I shouted and jumped across the crater with my hand out and my Aura flaring. She held out the end of her spear towards me and I grabbed it with my hand. She glowed with the shared Aura and used my momentum and the boost to her strength to twirl me around in a circle and then flung me into a pack of beowolves, bowling them over and giving her some breathing room.

I heard my plasma rifle go off in single-shot mode and turned from tearing a beowolf's head off to see Ruby shoot the poisoned tail off of a giant scorpion called a Death Stalker. “Nice shot!”

Ruby turned at my shout and saw me, looked down at the weapon in her hands, then back to me. She threw it twenty feet through the air and I caught it. “I love Crescent Rose; but, I like your weapon, too!”

I chuckled and changed it to assault mode. “I already thought about retrofitting your weapon for you and it won't work with the shifting design.” I said and unloaded 30 shots at the Grimm on the right side of the crater that was clear of other combatants. “That's why this doesn't have any other shifting modes.”

“That sucks!” Ruby shouted and her scythe beheaded two Grimm and skewered a third trying to take advantage of her distraction.

“I know!” I said and jumped ten feet to the left of the crater to kick a panther-like Grimm in the side that was about to pounce on Weiss. She looked surprised when I appeared beside her and then she saw what I just shot in the head.

She blushed a little. “Thank you.” She muttered and used another glyph powered shot through her fencing saber and blew apart several Grimm.

“Think nothing of it, your highness. I've got everyone's back.” I said and changed my rifle to single shot and aimed for the Death Stalker. “Clear the head!”

Nora dove aside and her grenade hammer fired to pull her and Ren out of the way.

I had to jump slightly to get over the heads of the few Grimm in the way and overcharged the shot before I fired.

*Wha-booow!*

The scorpion's head and part of its body blew apart when it was super-heated instantly and converted into gases. I landed and a lot of the fighters paused briefly to look over at me.

“I want one of those grenades!” Nora shouted and shook her hammer at me.

“We can talk shop later!” I said and switched back to assault mode and started firing into the remaining Grimm.

Funnily enough, the Grimm didn't retreat, even with them clearly losing. They fought to the last and it wasn't over until Yang stomped on something that looked like a mutated beaver and crushed its head. When it dissolved, the pervasive feeling of evil seeped away from the area. Everyone seemed to sigh with relief as the unseen pressure finally relented and disappeared.

I walked over to the ruins and looked at the chess pieces there. Of course there were chess pieces and there were not enough for four people to take the same kind in the same color, so I cheated. I grabbed the four Knight pieces, two black and two white, and changed them all to white.

All of the other students were celebrating and didn't notice what I did, so I went along the other pieces and changed their colors to match in sets of four, of each kind, then split the pawns and color-coded them as well. I mentally counted the people I could feel within my range and there were exactly the right number of pieces available to make teams of four, so I put them back in place and went over to my team.

“There you are!” Ruby said happily and jumped on me to hug me.

“I was just getting our team pieces.” I said and held her with one arm and held my hand out with the four White Knights on my palm.

“Of course you picked the white knights.” Yang said with a laugh.

“It is an appropriate symbol to represent us.” Penny commented.

“It really is.” Ruby said and looked unsure, then she leaned in and briefly kissed me on the lips.

“Way to go, Rubes!” Yang cheered and Ruby blushed.

I had to chuckle at that and set Ruby on her feet before I let her go. I gave her one of the knights, which she hugged. I handed Yang hers, then gave Penny hers, and I held mine.

“One for all.” Penny said and held her knight piece out.

I nodded and held mine to hers. “And all for one.”

“I'm good with that.” Yang said and clinked her knight piece against ours. “Ruby?”

Ruby gave us a shy smile and held her piece out to touch all three of ours. “No matter what happens, we're a team. A team forever!”

“A team forever!” Yang, Penny and I responded.

*

Ozpin stared at the replay of what John Hansen had done with the specifically chosen chess pieces. They had been organized in a certain way and color coded to see what the students would do with the logic puzzle. There were no matching sets of four, only pairs, and that was to signify teams within the groups of four, since you always needed a partner when working in the field.

He replayed the sequence again and watched as he transfigured the pieces to be both identical and to match their colors. The bases of the white pieces were round and the black were square, so the black pieces could shore up against each other with solid bases and the round white pieces could remain fluid and could move around each other freely.

The footage slowed down again and Ozpin watched the black pieces reform in slow motion and he knew for a fact that John had used magic. He knew it wasn't John's healing semblance that could restructure a building by melding it together and repairing it. No, this was a completely different thing and a magic he himself hadn't seen before.

Where in the world did he discover it? Ozpin asked himself as he watched it yet again. Was it some lost magic from before the fall or was it something else? He had never seen or heard of anything like it, so he doubted his eternal rival had heard of it, either. Salem was not someone to allow something like that out of her grasp if she knew about it.

That meant Ozpin needed to be watchful of what John Hansen did in front of others from now on. The only reason no one else saw this footage, not even Glynda, was because it was a separate system from the one recording the initiation. He liked being the only one to see the student's faces as they carefully chose their team pieces.

Ozpin needed to keep himself abreast of as much as possible and he was very glad that he had. If he had missed this development, it would have changed his decision to ask John for his help. Now that he knew the young man had some genuine magic in his possession, he had to eventually take him aside to either find out the extent of how much he knew or set up a situation where he would find out by merely observing him.

Yes, that last one would be preferable. John handles interrogations like they are a joke and it would gain me nothing to approach him that way. Ozpin thought and finally shut off the hologram.

The students would be arriving back at the academy soon and he had a speech to give and teams to announce. Ozpin also had to decide if he wanted John to know about a certain maiden that was in a coma trying to recover from an attack.

After Cinder Fall's death, Amber's full magic had returned to her, only she didn't wake up like he calculated. It was a puzzle Ozpin didn't like not knowing the solution to.

*

“Last but not least, Team Harpy.” Ozpin said as the initials H, R, P, and Y appeared on the screen behind him on the screen. “John Hansen, Ruby Rose, Penny Polendina, and Yang Xiao-Long.”

All of the students clapped and cheered as I and my team stepped onto the stage.

“Congratulations, Mister Hansen.” Ozpin said and shook my hand. “We all expect great things from you and your team.”

I know you do. I thought and smiled. “We'll do our best to meet and exceed your expectations, Professor Ozpin.”

The man chuckled and let my hand go and motioned us to leave the stage. “With the teams sorted, please see Miss Goodwitch for your dorm assignments, armor and weapon storage, and class schedule.”

The gathered students swarmed the blonde woman and she met them head on and worked through them with efficiency and sternness. No carrying on was allowed and I pulled my team off to the side to wait.

“Why aren't we waiting in line?” Ruby asked me, because everyone else was crowding the desk where Glynda sat.

“Because we don't have to.” Yang said, getting it right away.

“What do you mean?” Ruby asked.

“Miss Goodwitch already has the assignments set.” Penny reasoned and I nodded, making her smile. “Trying to be first only earns you frustration as you argue pointlessly with those also fighting to be served first.”

“Oh. Okay.” Ruby said and calmed down. “Why didn't anyone else think of that?”

“Eagerness.” I said and she gave me a pointed look, so I explained. “There's nothing wrong with being eager, Ruby. It's a good trait to have most of the time; however, if waiting is a better choice in certain situations...”

“...being eager will only get you the wrong kind of attention.” Ruby finished.

“Exactly.” I said and put an arm over her shoulders. “Like here, we can wait in relative calmness as everyone else scrambles to get their assignments, since they won't change between now and when we receive them. When most of them are gone, we can walk over without rushing and get our own.”

Ruby leaned into me and her arm went around my waist. “Thanks for explaining, John.”

“Anytime, Ruby.” I said and turned my head to kiss her forehead.

It didn't take long before most of the other student teams were served and had left at a fast walk, clearing the way for us to approach the blonde huntress. By the time we reached her temporary desk, the last team had just departed.

Glynda gave us a searching look and a nod as she handed me the papers set aside for us. “As the highest scoring team, you have first pick of the training rooms for team practises after classes.”

“Thank you for the offer; but, we won't need them.” I said and Ruby and Yang gasped.

Penny just looked at me with a slightly tilted head as she waited for me to explain.

“Our team coordination doesn't need any improvement or refinement, so it's a waste of both our time and the school resources for us to use the facilities.” I said and Penny nodded. “However, we will be availing ourselves of the Forever Fall dropoff ejection system and using the Evergreen Forest every weekend as we fight against the Grimm.”

Ruby made a noise like a wheel that needed grease, Yang almost had stars glittering in her eyes, and Penny looked proud.

“Mister Hansen, I highly recommend that you reconsider that course of action.” Glynda managed to say without shouting at me, because I could tell that she really wanted to.

“Well, if you can arrange a Bullhead transport to deliver us to outside the Vale City walls every weekend instead, we can do some real hunter work instead of training.” I offered.

“OOOO! Let's do that instead!” Ruby shouted and started hopping in place.

“That does sound like more fun.” Yang admitted.

“As long as John is with us, I am fine with either option.” Penny said.

Glynda glared at me and then lost it as she sighed. “I will make the launch codes available to you by the weekend. Do not bring anyone else with you while you perform your insane stunts and the codes will be changed to stop you from abusing the system outside of regulated times.”

I nodded and motioned for the girls to follow. “Thank you, Mistress Goodwitch. Have a good evening.”

Glynda mumbled something I didn't catch and I led my team out of the meeting hall.

“I can't believe you did that!” Ruby said and then giggled.

“It's a basic tactic of negotiation to first ask for something reasonable that you know they won't allow, then you ask for something completely outrageous that they would never allow. It makes the reasonable one sound so much better and they will usually agree to the more obtainable one.” Penny informed us.

“That's right.” I said and pointed down the hallway where we needed to go. “At least they have full monitoring capabilities in the forest. If anything goes wrong, they'll know about it right away and can evacuate us as quickly as possible.”

“That... that's awesome.” Ruby said and tried to not stare at me too much. She failed miserably because she kept tripping over her own feet instead of watching where she was going.

I caught her for the sixth time and picked her up in my arms. “We'll work on your peripheral vision and perception on the weekend.”

Ruby blushed and didn't ask me to put her down. She also didn't protest when I held her close.

We arrived at our dorm assignment and Penny opened the door. It was a small room with four beds along the walls, two on each side, and a small walkway between them. A large window with an arch was on the far wall, too.

“This place is smaller than my room back home.” Ruby complained.

“It's much bigger than my storage closet.” Penny said and I was sure I was the only one that heard her, because the other two girls didn't react.

Yang hopped onto one of the beds and the mattress barely moved. “At least they're tough enough to get rough on.”

We all ignored that obvious invitation for lewd comments and jokes.

“Well, we have two choices.” I said and the three girls turned to look at me. “We can leave it the way it is and deal with almost no room for dressers or cabinets, or I can combine the beds into two bunk beds and free up the extra room that two of the beds are taking up.”

“Bunk beds? Really?” Yang asked and folded her arms under her breasts. “We're not kids having a sleepover for the next four years.”

“Hey, there's nothing wrong with bunk beds.” Ruby said and looked at one of the beds and then looked at the ceiling. “What about a hammock or something? It would get us up off the floor at least.”

I looked at the ceiling height and did some mental math. “I'll need about two hours, some wood, and some privacy. We will still have individual beds when I'm done, they'll just be up on shelves and have ladders.”

“We can worry about fixing this place up tomorrow.” Yang said and stood up. “I'm grabbing a shower and heading to bed.”

“I'm first!” Ruby called and disappeared in a wash of rose petals and reappeared at the front of the room where our bags were. She grabbed her bag with a laugh and then she was gone and the bathroom door slammed shut.

“DAMMIT, RUBY!” Yang yelled. “I called dibs first!”

Ruby's laugh came through the locked door.

Yang sighed as she plopped down to lay back on her chosen bed. “I hope they have lots of hot water.”

I exchanged a knowing look with Penny and she gave me a smile and a nod. Neither of us would be worrying about wasting water. When both Ruby and Yang were done with their showers, they went to bed and didn't notice Penny and I going into the bathroom together. Penny had a lot more personal data to process after we left the bathroom and went to bed.

*

Classes were a normal mix of regular subjects and fighting techniques. It was a weird dichotomy of classes that spread out our normal learning and how to defend ourselves against various Grimm. The novelty alone kept everyone's interest, because even the students that had learned in a training school to come to Beacon, were experiencing a different quality and quantity of information.

Of course, Ruby and I were almost completely lost during that first week as the teachers went over their course materials. We exchanged looks after every class and silently promised ourselves to study a lot more than everyone else, because we had a lot of catching up to do to match the knowledge and experience of our classmates.

The both of us were glad that we had someone else in a similar boat as ourselves to share the experience with and we didn't feel so alone. It was almost a relief that there was someone else as bad off as we were and it brought us that much closer together. Spending so much extra time together was also contributing to that closeness as well.

Luckily, both Yang and Penny also wanted to help us catch up and our study sessions soon became a full group thing and the other two girls used it more as a review as Ruby and I learned as quickly as we could.

When it came to the fighting parts of the curriculum, none of us fell behind and we showed that we were actually ahead of most of the rest of the class. Only Weiss, Blake, Nora, and Ren could come anywhere close to where we were with their fighting capabilities and we were often paired with them or paired against them.

Needless to say, our fights were the highlights of the combat classes and Professor Glynda Goodwitch used us as the prime example for the rest of the students to aim for. With enough training, they too could be as good as us in the field. None of us had discouraged it, because if they could get anywhere near as good as us, they would become exceptional hunters and huntresses in their own right.

*

I received the codes for the launch mechanism on Saturday morning and the beep on my scroll woke me up. I also felt a wet warmth engulfing me down there and I lifted the blanket to see who was currently giving me head. It was kind of funny that I really didn't know who it could be that was snuggled up to my balls under the blanket until I looked.

“Morning.” Yang whispered and blushed.

“Morning.” I whispered back and reached down and petted her hair. “You have about fifteen minutes before the others wake up.”

Yang grinned at me and then dove back onto me and started sucking again.

I dropped the blanket and tried to not moan too loudly as she worked me over. One of her hands cupped my balls and she flicked her tongue over the head a few times, then went back to trying to deep-throat me. She had a gag reflex, so she wasn't going to be doing more than she already was. I wasn't disappointed, though. She knew how to work the shaft and gave me a great blowjob in the allotted time.

I finished down her throat and she let out a moan and swallowed it all, the great taste making her a little more enthusiastic about cleaning me off afterwards, and Yang slid out from under the blanket and gave me a sexy look. She patted her ass and nodded at the shower, clearly giving me permission.

I nodded and followed her into the bathroom and thanked the silencing charms I had already cast on the walls, because damn, Yang was a screamer. She wasn't shy about it at all and wanted everyone in the building to know when she came. She was also an extreme cuddler and wouldn't let me go until I was drying her off outside of the shower.

The possessive look she gave me, didn't bother me, because with the current male to female ratio of the population, she knew my team would probably become my wives in the future. Even with Ruby being her half-sister, it didn't matter. They would all have equal rights to me and that was all she cared about.

Yang did make me promise to not bed Ruby until she was the legal age of 16 and I agreed without protest. Of course, as soon as we left the bathroom, Yang told Ruby about my promise and the poor girl's head almost exploded with how quickly her blood rushed to her face in embarrassment. Yang also magnanimously offered to let Ruby play with the goods until then and that didn't help at all.

Ruby fainted and her sister just laughed. Penny on the other hand, took me into the bathroom to share another shower together. She claimed to want to confirm the data she already had and I went along with it, just because I wasn't going to deny her trying to justify repeating the fun we had before.

I did keep changing things up, just so she wasn't getting the exact same data each time. Maybe that was why she was so eager to keep repeating the act, because it was slightly different every time we did it? I wasn't going to ask her that, though.

It was better for me to just pretend Penny wasn't locked into a horny subroutine and wanted me to fill her data quota as many times as I could. Since I didn't want to disappoint her, I would continue giving her my best performance whenever she wanted it. It's what good friends did for each other.

After breakfast, we changed into our hunting uniforms and went over to the same position on top of the cliff called Forever Fall where the initiation ritual happened a week ago. I had also helped them restock all of their Dust powered weapons and ammo with the best quality I had on hand, just because I could.

“All right, are we doing this the same way as last time or do you want to try and handle it yourselves?” I asked as I primed the launch mechanism that would throw us through the air to land far below the cliff in the Evergreen Forest.

Yang, Ruby, and Penny leaned their heads together and whispered. I intentionally didn't listen in and waited for them to make their decision.

“We're a team and we're going to do this together.” Ruby said, her voice firm, and the other two nodded. “Forever and ever.”

I smiled and brought the three of them into a hug. “Then let's show Glynda what Team Harpy can do with our full weapon loadouts when we don't have to be careful about friendly fire.”

Ruby squealed with happiness, Yang barked a laugh, and Penny looked amused. I hit the launch button on my scroll and stored it just before the springboard shot us up and into the air. My Aura covered the four of us, Yang and Ruby letting out moans, and Penny's afterburners kicked in.

“Ohhh, god! I love you.” Ruby said and kissed me.

Yang kept laughing and Penny still looked amused as we flew through the air, our arc of descent changing into an actual flight path, and we landed right in the middle of a huge gathering of Grimm in a copse of trees.

“About face! Prepare arms!” I said without pausing and drawing my weapon as I turned towards our enemies, the girls doing the same. “OPEN FIRE!”

Ruby, Penny, and I unloaded our assault weapons into the horde of Grimm in three directions and Yang jumped forward just enough to shoot off her shotgun gauntlets in the fourth direction and taking out all of the closest ones in a single volley.

“I think I love you, too!” Yang said and started wailing her fists into the mass of Grimm and blowing them apart as her overcharged Aura let her tear into them like they were less than smoke instead of solid creatures for her to pummel.

“I have to agree with my teammates.” Penny said as her lasers cut through the mass of Grimm in her section like a hot knife through butter. “My weapons and I are much more effective because of my feelings for you.”

“Yeah, what she said!” Ruby shouted and held her trigger down and swept her assault rifle from side to side as she mowed down the Grimm. “Thanks for helping me fix my trigger mechanism to copy yours!”

I chuckled and pulled out several plasma grenades. “Who wants some breathing room?”

“ME!” All three of them said at the same time and I activated all four grenades and flung them out over our heads.

Four miniature suns exploded around us and consumed a huge amount of Grimm, clearing out most of the group we had landed in. A few more shots from Penny's and Ruby's guns finished the stragglers off.

“That. Was. AWESOME!” Yang yelled and high-fived her sister, then Penny, then me.

“We're just getting started.” I said and she grinned at me as she clapped her fist into her palm.

“Then lead the way, boss-man! Our guns aren't going to get any exercise if we keep standing around.” Yang said and flexed her arms to show off her muscles.

Ruby laughed and hugged her sister. “I knew being on a team with you would be the best!”

“Penny, which way to the next largest group?” I asked and Penny spent a few seconds scanning.

“The east has a higher concentration today.” Penny said and pointed where we had to go.

“Thanks, Penny. Let me just heal the damage we did.” I said and knelt to touch the ground.

“You know, that surprises me every time I see it.” Ruby said as the craters reformed into undamaged ground and all the plants and nearby trees hit by stray fire all repaired themselves. Even the underbrush that the Grimm had trampled grew back.

“Ruby's right. Your semblance is the best, John.” Yang agreed.

“I also appreciate having access to such a powerful ability.” Penny said.

I smiled at them and motioned where Penny said to go. “Are we casually strolling and spreading carnage or are we jogging to keep up our momentum?”

“We are going to be here all day. I vote for a casual stroll until we find something big enough to be a challenge.” Penny responded.

“That's a good point. We don't have to rush until we know we can have a lot of fun.” Yang said.

“Oh! We can practice tossing each other like Pyrrha did to John during the initiation, too!” Ruby eagerly suggested.

Yang gave her a hug. “You have the best ideas, Rubes.”

Ruby blushed a little. “Thanks, Yang.”

“I'll say casual stroll as well. When we reach a good spot, we can throw our two lightest members into the enemy.” I said.

“That's not us!” Both Yang and Ruby shouted.

Penny and I chuckled at the instant denial and we each easily picked up the girl closest to us, Ruby for Penny and Yang for me. Both girls squealed in protest and struggled for a few seconds, then they gave up and held onto our necks.

“This is a casual stroll for Penny and I.” I said and nodded at the android.

We both braced and took off at a light run, crossing hundreds of feet in only moments.

“You both are cheating cheaters who cheat!” Yang said and Ruby giggled. “You are, too!”

We all laughed, because she was the slowest of us and her Aura was concentrated into enhancing her strength and combat effectiveness as she fought. The angrier she became, the harder she would hit. It reminded me of a certain green-skinned hero from another world and I would have to make sure she trained up her speed as well. A fast hard hitter would shock everyone, including Yang herself.

We reached a small clearing and warned the girls to prepare for a fastball special. Yang and Ruby readied themselves and Penny and I threw them at the group of beowolves. Ruby used her semblance to speed herself up and fired off her cheap ammo to turn herself into a whirling dervish of death. She spun like a spinning top with her scythe and blurred through the left side of the group almost instantly and killed them.

“That's so not fair!” Yang shouted angrily and charged up her Aura. She glowed gold and her hair floated as her gauntlets whirred, then she plowed into the group and landed as she fired off all six shots she had in each gauntlet at the same time.

The explosion enhanced by her strength spread through the right half of the group and most of them died from the blast. Her fists blurred and Yang dispatched the remaining ones in only a few seconds.

“Nice work, girls. Your new moves really decimated them.” I praised the sisters as Penny and I approached them.

Ruby looked really pleased with herself as the bodies of the Grimm dissolved. “I can't believe that worked! I was moving so fast! Did you see it? I was like, whoosh! Then I slashed! Then I whooshed and slashed again!”

Yang laughed and hugged her to calm her excited sister down. “Yes, we all saw how great you are.”

Ruby blushed and hugged her back. “You were great, too! Using the cheap Fire dust to cause your own explosions? How awesome is that?”

Yang gave me a look that was full of sexiness and gratitude. “It's pretty awesome.”

“Just don't forget to reload with the real rounds for the next shot.” I cautioned her and she smirked at me as she showed me her gauntlets had the red clips in them and not the black ones. I chuckled and nodded at her for already doing it.

“The next group is in that direction.” Penny said and pointed.

I briefly touched Ruby and Yang to share my Aura with them to top them up and both let out a cute little moan. “Let's go. This forest isn't going to clear itself out.”

“It's never going to know what hit it!” Yang promised.

Both Ruby and Penny nodded and we moved off as a group towards the next set of targets.

*

Ozpin sat in his office that night and watched the replay of Team HRPY as they massacred Grimm like they were pests that weren't overrunning the world and destroying it one village at a time. He had never seen such coordination before, not without years of training and friendship, and he knew John Hansen had only shown up in Vale a week and a half ago.

The ancient man's eyes widened as he watched John heal the damaged forest clearing and the trees and shrubbery grew back like it was brand new and hadn't been torn up and damaged years ago when the Grimm had moved through that area. His healing Semblance was so strong that it could fix damage from so long ago and the opportunity he represented could not be ignored anymore.

Ozpin would have to approach the young man about his problem soon and he had to arrange a safe meeting between John and a particular Fall Maiden that was still in a coma. He had tried everything else to wake Amber and this chance was pretty much the only one he had left. He had lost Ruby's mother Summer to Salem's machinations years ago and he refused to lose another Maiden.

*

I wasn't surprised when we only had to put up a single expanded tent for us to sleep in at night. The joined sleeping bags also didn't surprise me. What did surprise me was Ruby being the first to undress and climb in to wait for me. I gave a raised eyebrow to her sister and Yang shrugged, muttered something about me teaching her to be bold, and stripped off as well.

I chuckled and climbed into the sleeping bag and Ruby cuddled right in. Yang and Penny soon joined us and we fell asleep surrounded by the warmth of bodies and the emotional warmth that completely trusting the people you were with gave you.

Not surprisingly, I was awake first and slipped out of the sleeping bag and stepped outside to cook up breakfast for everyone. I was glad Penny had internal mechanisms to convert food into energy for herself and no one but me could tell what she really was, not that she was hiding her nature. It just wasn't something that needed to be discussed.

The smells made the other three members of my team wake up and neither Yang nor Ruby wanted to leave the warmth of the sleeping bag. Penny patted their heads and promised to serve them breakfast in bed while we were out in the wilds, which had both girls blush and thank her for it.

Of course, as soon as she delivered the food, I was taken aside and then Penny gathered more data about interpersonal relationships and how 'doing it outdoors' could be just as fun and entertaining as doing it traditionally in a bed, or on a table, or in the shower. She definitely enjoyed getting new data all the time.

We cleaned up and then the four of us dressed in our Hunter outfits and packed up the tent in my expanded backpack. None of them asked why it could all fit in there, either. I supposed that if they didn't know the secret, it could always remain a mystery or just 'something that John does'.

Penny directed us to the next group of Grimm and they were Ursa Bears. We decimated them as if they were normal Grimm and not a higher tier enemy that they were supposed to be. When they were all dead and dissolving, both Ruby and Yang gave each other disbelieving looks and then looked at Penny and myself.

“This is proof of how effective we are as a team.” Penny said and I nodded.

“We already said we loved you.” Yang said and Ruby nodded. “What do we say now?”

“Where's the next group so we can punch their faces in?” I asked and Ruby laughed.

“That's good enough for me.” Yang said and slapped her fist into her palm. “Penny, which way?”

Penny pointed and scooped Ruby up in her arms. “Half a kilometer.”

I scooped Yang up into my arms and she hugged my neck. Penny and I took off running and I felt a few kisses on my ear and cheek. I whispered we would work on her speed later and give her a chance to keep up with us on her own soon, which made Yang softly moan.

We worked until lunch and I served a prepared meal in containers. The girls made appreciative sounds and we chatted about what we would be doing next weekend if we cleaned out a good portion of the forest this time. I merely said we would either train more techniques or we could take a break, because we were so far above the other students in combat.

Yang and Ruby exchanged smiles. “More combat training!”

Penny nodded her head. “I agree as well.”

“Then that's what we'll do.” I said and the girls high-fived each other.

We finished eating and we continued fighting Grimm for the rest of the afternoon and stopped just before suppertime. I overcharged Penny's Aura and cast featherlight charms on myself, Yang, and Ruby. Penny easily flew us back to Beacon Academy and I cancelled the spells as we landed on the overlook.

Eating a meal in the cafeteria had a few of the other students giving us odd looks, probably because we hadn't taken the time to clean ourselves up or clean off our outfits after an entire weekend of fighting Grimm in the wilderness. We kind of stood out when compared to the clean casual clothes that everyone else was wearing, too. No one said anything, though.

We went back to our expanded room and we all stripped off and entered the bathroom. The shower was twice as big as it used to be and we had no trouble all washing up. None of us were in a frisky mood after all the work we did and we left the bathroom still naked.

“Rock, paper, scissors?” Yang asked.

“No fair! You always beat me!” Ruby complained.

“That's because you always take rock.” Yang said and rubbed her sister's hair.

“But, rock wins most of the time!” Ruby protested and tried to push Yang's hand away.

“I will choose scissors.” Penny said and held her fingers out and did a cutting motion.

“See! I'd beat Penny!” Ruby exclaimed and Yang just laughed.

“I'll cuddle the loser and in their own bed.” I said, magnanimously.

One furious round of Rock Paper Scissors later, Ruby lifted her fists into the air. “I WIN!”

“Yes, you did.” I said and kissed her on the lips, then I climbed into Penny's bed.

“DAMMIT!” Ruby yelled. Yang laughed and hugged her before she climbed into her own bed.

*

Classes were again both difficult and easy, the combination of catching up and new material was keeping Ruby and myself on our toes. Our teammates continued to help us catch up and we appreciated it a lot. I made sure to thank them for it by giving them a little more attention than a boyfriend usually would, like little gifts, random kisses, back rubs, and sneaky caresses were liberally shared.

I also went over Penny's systems for her whenever I had the chance, even without access to my normal lab setup. She was very grateful when I gave her several upgrades, including her data storage systems, weapon systems, and her flight ability. With my extensive knowledge of androids, including the ones from Dragon Ball Z, she ended up becoming even more human-like that she could have ever been and also a lot more powerful.

When the weekend arrived, we were stopped before we left our dorm to head out to the Forever Fall dropoff and our planned excursion to the Evergreen Forrest. Glynda Goodwitch looked a little perturbed to be the one to delay us, probably because she knew we had done excellent work last weekend and had culled a lot of the Grimm infection in the forest.

It had also stopped some of the bigger Grimm from either forming or being attracted to the larger concentration of evil emanating from there. I had specifically looked for both a death stalker and a giant nevermore, like the ones we encountered during initiation, and neither of them could be found.

“My apologies for interrupting your plans, Team Harpy.” Glynda said and I believed it was genuine. “Professor Ozpin has requested an audience with your team leader for the morning.”

Yang and Ruby looked devastated and Penny let out a sigh, so I knew she was also disappointed at not being able to deploy her new systems.

“It's all right.” I said and hugged and kissed each of them. “We'll just switch tomorrow's schedule for today's. Go ahead and start reviewing and we'll head into Vale this afternoon and raid the best shops for parts and things.”

All three of them brightened up at the offer.

“I suppose we could have our relaxing day first and then go have fun in the forest.” Yang said and Ruby nodded.

“It is a sound plan.” Penny said.

“Great! I'll meet you in the cafeteria at lunch.” I said and then hugged and kissed them in reverse order, making Ruby giggle at being both first and last at the same time. “Lead the way, Mistress Goodwitch.”

Glynda nodded and led me out of the dorm room. I didn't bother asking her for time to change out of my hunter uniform, because it was unnecessary. People had to get used to seeing me wearing it and this was just another opportunity for them to do so.

We crossed part of the campus and entered the main building and the elevator there. The ride was quiet and I didn't try to ask her how she was, because I was sure she would lie and tell me she was fine. I had noticed how she would sneak longing looks towards me when she thought no one was looking and that told me that she regretted not indulging herself with me when she had the chance.

I also didn't tell her that she could give us a try the next time she had time off, because she wouldn't accept it. She had her principles and she was going to stick with them, even at the cost of her own feelings and desires, which was why I didn't do anything but hug and kiss my teammates when in public. Rubbing her face in it wasn't going to benefit either of us.

Surprisingly, I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't notice that we were not going up in the elevator to Ozpin's office. The doors opened on an overly large and dark hallway and Glynda led me down to the end and into a secured room through a heavily reinforced door that was already open.

Inside stood Ozpin and he was surrounded by some advanced medical equipment and a stasis pod that kind of reminded me of the computers and things I usually used for my full size bacta tanks. Inside that pod was a young woman with tanned skin and dark hair with a bob cut. A strapless sports bra and a pair of white panties were all that were saving her modesty.

“Well, just by the setup, I'm going to guess you want me to use my healing semblance.” I said before Ozpin could start waxing poetic about the whole thing.

“John.” Glynda said with a sigh.

Ozpin nodded. “I knew bringing you down here would be enough for you to understand the situation.” He said and motioned to the pod. “I had a whole speech prepared about the Fall Maiden and how her power was stolen, then the one that stole said power ended up dead at your hands.”

I nodded, because Cinder Fall had been in that Bullhead transport I shot down. “You assumed the power didn't move on like the legends state and returned to the original host instead.”

Ozpin smiled a genuine smile for the first time in a while. “I had hoped it would be enough to wake her; and yet, Amber remains unconscious and the medical equipment isn't guaranteed to keep her breathing forever.”

“Have you tried measuring her brainwaves and if the returned energy increased her dormant state or agitated her injuries?” I asked and walked over to the equipment and stepped into the alcove with the various monitors and things. Thanks to my Ultimate King Piece, it let me read and understand any language, so I had no trouble reading everything.

A glance back at Ozpin and Glynda showed surprised faces.

“That would be a no, then.” I said and turned back to the display.

I used the terminal and recalled the readings and looked at the advanced medical scanning technology and mentally shook my head. This was the most advanced medical tech they had and I had given Penny better detection scanners only a few days ago. There was a minor blip in the brain scan around the time Cinder died and that was all.

“Well, there was some change, only it was almost undetectable. Her injuries haven't worsened, probably because of the stasis pod.” I said and typed out a few things and nodded. “Yes, it looks like her body is still breaking down at a very slow rate, despite being held in stasis.” I turned around and gave Ozpin a searching look. “How long has she been like this?”

“About 4 months.” Ozpin said.

I thought about that and it didn't match up. “I assume you've taken her out a few times to either patch up this cobbled together setup or for different attempts at healing her?”

“Both, actually.” Ozpin admitted. “As the technology was researched and improved, it was upgraded as soon as it became available. As for the attempts at healing her...”

“I saw the medical scan. Shot in the back with an arrow, power extraction burns along her face and neck, massive bruising on most of her arms and legs, and several cracked ribs on her side.” I said and saw both Glynda and Ozpin flinch. “Normal surgery can handle most of that, even if the ribs didn't heal properly because of the stasis halting her body's normal healing processes.”

Ozpin sighed. “I know. This has only been a stop-gap measure to keep her alive long enough to find a way to help her.”

I nodded and turned back to the displays and typed in a few more things. “That's the problem with some kinds of treatments, especially experimental ones. Sometimes it's just as bad, if not worse, than the damage itself.”

It was quiet for a few seconds as I checked the stasis commands and initiated the release procedures for the pod.

“Can you help her?” Glynda asked.

“I can do more than help her.” I said and the pod started hissing.

“What are you doing?” Ozpin asked and frowned at the lights going red on the stasis pod.

“Ending the stasis and ejecting Amber from the pod.” I said and walked over to the pod to watch the process. My medically trained eyes saw everything and I had to give them credit. For their level of technology, they did a great job of keeping her stable.

“She'll die if you cut off the life support!” Glynda almost shouted as an alarm blared.

“No, she won't.” I said and hit the release on the pod's cover. I should have let it open on its own, except I could see her body going into distress as the stasis procedure was being undone. It was taking too long and her injuries were making it much harder for her to recover from the process.

My hand touched her arm and I activated my Aura sharing, covering us both in a golden glow. The alarm cut off and the red lights changed to yellow, indicating caution and not danger. I couldn't immediately heal her fully, as that would be too much of a shock to her system after being out of it for so long.

I very slowly let my Semblance heal her, bit by bit and stage by stage, as the process of her coming out of stasis continued. The cosmetic stuff was easy to deal with, even though it was technically magical damage, and her skin turned from its faded state back to a nice deep color. The burns on her face and neck faded and were absorbed to become healthy skin once more.

Amber's weak bones and muscles reformed and sorted themselves out as the damage from years of fighting was undone. Even her hair that was a dull brown, that hadn't seen sunlight in so long, returned to a rich burgundy. She had been a striking young woman in her prime and the months of medical treatment had not been kind to her. Now, she was back to looking as if there had been nothing wrong with her.

My decades of experience with different kinds of brains and magic systems, let me check her over completely. It would take a while to work through her trauma after being attacked like she had, and I knew just the thing to say to her to calm her down when she took in a sharp breath and her eyes flew open.

“Cinder Fall is dead.” I said and Amber gasped as she stared at me. “I don't know about the others, so you'll have to ask Ozpin about that.”

I had said it like that to cover up the fact that Eye had used the security system to laser the both of them through the head a week ago. It had happened just outside the walls of Vale and he easily disposed of their bodies to hide their deaths. The funny thing was, he didn't tell me and I only learned about it when I read about it in his weekly progress report, that was how unimportant it had been.

Amber blinked her eyes at me and she blushed as her body responded positively to my healing Aura. She looked down at where my glowing hand touched her arm. “What are you doing?”

“It's a side effect of my healing Semblance.” I said instead of answering what she asked.

“Can you... stop it?” Amber asked as her nipples hardened under the tight cloth of her strapless sports bra.

“Fortunately, no.” I said and she gave me a squinted eyed look. “My girlfriends would hate me if I figured out how to turn that part of the effect off.”

Amber blinked her eyes at me again. “How long have you had your Semblance?”

“Mistress Goodwitch activated my Aura about three weeks ago.” I responded. “I figured out my Semblance almost right away.”

“Three weeks? You've only had your Aura for three weeks?” Amber whispered the question, clearly surprised.

“It nearly knocked her out doing it, too.” I said, a bit proudly, because Glynda was a powerful woman and giving me Aura had taxed her greatly.

“You healed her?” Amber guessed right away.

“I sure did.” I said with a smile. “Like I'm healing you, actually.”

Amber looked like she was trying to fight the feeling.

“It's best to embrace that feeling before it overwhelms you.” Glynda told her. “Believe me, I know.”

Amber let out a sigh and closed her eyes, then she let out a soft moan and the golden glow around her body increased. She bit her lip and her face crunched up slightly before she let out a long shuddering breath and sighed again.

“I told you.” Glynda said and looked a little smug.

“It feels like... a warm bath... that also hugs you and makes you feel safe.” Amber whispered.

“Like I told you, my team would hate me if I ever tried to change that feeling.” I said.

Amber nodded and opened her eyes to give me a searching look. “How much longer do I have to keep feeling like this?”

I mentally checked her and glanced over at the console as well. “Another minute for the medical stasis to end and your body is back to 100%, then another 30 seconds to top up your Aura.”

Amber looked surprised and her eyes went to Glynda's.

“It's usually a lot faster than that, even if you don't want it to be.” Glynda said before she could stop herself. Neither Ozpin nor I looked at either woman as they blushed.

The console beeped and Amber let out a breath, knowing she was done physically healing, and she tried to not moan as her Aura was almost forcibly refilled from almost nothing. She had been running on empty for months now, which explained why she was slowly getting worse while in stasis. She couldn't get any Aura back while being too hurt to survive outside of that same stasis.

That was especially bad, because Aura was the manifestation of the soul and a Semblance was the expression of that soul. It meant she had been on the brink of death for a long time and she was finally getting back to her real self. When the 30 seconds was up, I started to lift my hand from her arm and she caught it with her own hand.

“Just... a little more.” Amber said, her face red and her eyes diverted.

I smiled and put my other hand on her forehead and tripled my Aura sharing. “Welcome back to the world of the living, Fall Maiden.”

Amber gasped and moaned loudly as she came hard and her magic burst forth and strong winds from nowhere buffeted Glynda and Ozpin. A storm cloud quickly formed overhead in the overly large hallway, even so far underground, so I eased off on the Aura infusion and the cloud calmed down as it faded away. It took Amber a minute longer to calm down, too.

“Who are you?” Amber asked me, her face still red.

“John Hansen, Team Leader of HRPY, or Team Harpy.” I said and stepped back from the pod.

Amber let my hand go, even though her hand twitched to keep hold of it.

“I've already contacted Qrow to tell him the good news.” Ozpin said and nodded at Glynda, whom was putting a scroll away. “He'll be here shorty to help you fill in the gaps in your memory from the attack.”

Amber nodded and started to step out of the pod, then remembered what she had just been doing and her hands dropped down to cover the large wet spot on her underwear.

I took a large fluffy robe out of my inventory and handed it to her.

“Thank you.” Amber said and spent a moment to slip it on, then she stepped out and she was about 4 inches shorter than me. She paused and looked up at my face with wide eyes.

“It's all natural and hard fought to get it this way.” I said and did a little flex with my arms.

Amber nodded and her hand reached out and caressed my bicep. “Is that why you're wearing such a skintight outfit? To show off?”

“No, I just had this available and thought it was appropriate.” I said and tapped the H on my chest, implying it was the H in HRPY. “I have another outfit I could have used, except I haven't worn it in a while and I would have to get used to wearing it again.”

I did not explain that it would also limit me severely as well. A trenchcoat and a shotgun would severely reduce the range I could fight at, as Yang was quickly discovering. If my guess was right, she was going to ask me for a longer range option soon.

Amber gave me a look from my head to my feet and nodded. “I bet it helps with morale, too.”

“Only for my own team.” I joked and she softly laughed, getting what I meant. Only my teammates were allowed to experience what they could clearly see and the rest had to settle for only looking.

“Oh, where are my manners.” Amber said and held a hand out to me. “My name is Amber Autumn and it's nice to meet you, John.”

I took her hand and bent over to kiss it as I gave her a quick shot of Aura. “Likewise, Amber.”

Ozpin and Glynda looked surprised that Amber was so personable after what happened to her. I wasn't, because of my opening statement. Reassuring her that the one that took her magic was dead, made her automatically relax, because that person couldn't come after her to finish the job.

There was a light grumbling sound and Amber looked embarrassed.

“It has been a while since you've physically eaten.” I said and motioned to the stasis pod. “Intravenous fluids can only do so much, so I bet your stomach feels like a huge black hole right now.”

“It really does.” Amber said and gave me a searching look. “How do you know that?”

“I have lots of medical experience and I've experienced it myself a few times.” I said and offered her an elbow. “I'm sure something can be brought to one of the lounges in the tower for you, assuming there isn't a kitchen for me to use.”

Amber took my elbow and smiled. “With that kind of offer, now I'm curious about what you would do.”

I smiled and nodded at Glynda and Ozpin. They stepped aside and let us pass them, then followed right behind us.

“I'm a bit of an expert in that field, too.” I admitted. “How long were you on the road travelling, anyway? I bet it's been a while since you ate a real meal.”

“You have no idea!” Amber said with a soft chuckle. “I was travelling a lot longer than I liked, that's for sure.”

We walked down that long hallway and chatted about her travels and the food she sorely missed, why she started hating trail rations, and how constantly being on the move to stop people from hunting her down had been getting harder and harder over the last few months. Then she was tricked into stopping and was attacked by Cinder Fall and two others.

The four of us reached the elevator and rode it up to one of the larger lounges. Glynda had been smart and had called ahead to have some food trays delivered. Amber's stomach grumbled at the sight and I laughed to stop her from being embarrassed about it. I brought her over to the table and helped her assemble an easily eaten sandwich and she pretty much devoured it and sighed happily.

“Now you can relax and enjoy actually eating.” I said and started to pick things and added to a plate for her to eat that wouldn't upset her previously empty stomach. I ate as well, just because it was the polite thing to do, and Glynda also joined us. Ozpin just stood off to the side and observed us and refilled his mug occasionally.

We kept talking and Qrow eventually showed up. By that, I mean he stumbled into the room half-drunk and with a bottle in his hand. He started to yell about how happy he was to see Amber awake and I was instantly across the room and punched him in the head as I cast a stunning spell on him.

Surprisingly, no one shouted at me for overreacting or laying the drunk out. I propped him up on one of the couches and went back to a smiling Amber and an amused Glynda.

“You don't know how many times I wanted to do that.” Glynda admitted and Amber nodded.

“I wanted to stop his bad luck Aura from ruining things.” I said and they both nodded. I sat down with them again and we resumed our talk.

Glynda filled Amber in on what had been happening while she was incapacitated and I gained a better perspective about how things were before I showed up. The world seemed to be under a lot more tension that I suspected, probably because the show didn't delve into things until RWBY stumbled into the different plots and revealed them much later.

I already had Eye working on all the backdoors and computer cheats that computer genius from Atlas had installed in all of his programs that were used all over the world. He even had some exploits inside nearly everyone's scrolls, because they had some of his smaller and innocuous programs on them when they updated using the world's CCT towers for communications.

Needless to say, Eye was having an absolute ball. He was also writing a counter program to fill in all the holes the illegal programs were leaving everywhere. Of course, Eye was also using those holes to gather as much information as he could, too. It was only fair, after all.

The conversation eventually turned to what Amber would do now and she looked sad. She started to explain that she needed to start moving around again to keep away from the people that Ozpin's counterpart was going to send after her, now that she was awake.

“She doesn't know that you're awake, Amber.” Ozpin said when he finally spoke up.

“Not yet, no. She will, though. She always does.” Amber said with a sigh.

Ozpin didn't refute her statement, so I knew it was true.

“Then why not stay here until she does find out?” I asked and she gave me a questioning look. “Wouldn't that be best way to discover who she sends and when?”

Ozpin, Glynda, and Amber looked thoughtful.

“As long as no one reports Amber is awake, or tells anyone else about it, either verbally or electronically...” I stopped talking and we all turned our heads to look at the unconscious Hunter on the couch that had an uncontrollable Semblance that caused bad luck for everyone around him. “...never mind.”

“He could have told anyone and everyone on the way here.” Glynda said, sadly.

“I will have certain preparations made to increase the academy's defenses to protect Amber.” Ozpin said and walked towards the door of the lounge with his cane taking some of his weight. “Glynda will find you an appropriate space to occupy until we discover Salem's response to your miraculous recovery.”

Amber frowned briefly and then nodded as Ozpin left. Glynda patted her arm and they went back to chatting and eating. I glanced over to where the invisible Eye was floating in his drone body and slightly nodded. He would be doing the same thing, only electronically. We had already covered the campus grounds with shield emitters and they could be activated at any time, so we weren't completely defenseless.

As I tried to keep myself involved in the conversation, I tried to go over what I knew about the lore of the story. I remembered there being four legendary artifacts that had spectacular powers individually and that they could only be retrieved by the four Seasonal Maidens, Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.

If the four artifacts were ever brought together, whether or not their individual powers had been used or not, they would summon the presences of the two brother gods that had abandoned the world centuries ago after they failed in their first experiment in creating mankind. In fact, it was their departure that had shattered half of the moon.

I need to do something about that soon. I thought and listened as Amber gave Glynda a good ribbing about how we met. Glynda, in her defense, said she was more concerned with how I survived an explosion than her own pleasure. At the time, anyway. That made Amber laugh and I smiled as I added that was when I had shot down Cinder's airship and both she and Roman were killed in the crash.

The sound of shattering glass came from nearby and I dove at Amber and Glynda to take the both of them to the floor as machine gun fire filled the lounge. I felt the Dust-enhanced rounds as they peppered my back, arms, and legs. My Aura had snapped into place and took them all easily.

Funnily enough, the glass of the windows had not been penetrated. It had been Neopolitan's Semblance that had made that noise as she found out how her boss had died and I was responsible. I didn't have to instruct Eye to take her out as a laser fired from his hidden position and burned through her forehead. Neo died with a smile on her face, obviously thinking she had murdered me.

The gunfire stopped when she dropped to the floor and I didn't move as I checked both Amber and Glynda for injuries. Both women blushed slightly as I did so, as if neither of them had ever had anyone check them for things like that before, and I stood up and helped them to their feet. Their eyes widened when they saw the massive pile of crushed bullets around us and they realized how much I had actually blocked.

“That's why I had to check you both so thoroughly.” I said and wagged my eyebrows, implying I was only using it as an excuse to touch them all over. It successfully distracted them from the danger they had been in and they forgot about being attacked as a consequence of being near me at the time.

The door to the conference room opened again and Ozpin stepped back inside. He looked over at Neo's body and sighed. We could tell he was disappointed that she was dead and couldn't be redeemed, which meant he would feel the same if he knew that Cinder's henchmen were also dead.

It did make me wonder what he would think if he knew I had taken out the local cell of the White Fang before school had started... and now I was thinking I needed to take care of the rest of them as well. I didn't object to Faunus rights, as all people deserved to live their lives without prejudice and discrimination. It was them becoming terrorists and killing innocent people that I objected to.

Ozpin had Glynda call someone to come and handle the body and to clean up the scene. I opened my mouth to ask why he wasn't calling the police to report what happened, then Amber put a hand on my arm and I saw her shake her head. I sighed and she gave me a sad smile.

“You should return to your team.” Glynda said to me.

I tried to refuse, because I didn't want to leave her and Amber undefended, and they both looked pleased about that. I was politely chided that I wasn't responsible for their protection and they could handle themselves, even though Amber had only just woken from a coma. They saw it on my face and Amber stood on the tips of her toes to give me a brief kiss, making herself blush, and shooed me away.

Before I left, I took out a scroll and handed it to her and said my number was the first one in the list and she could call me at any time if she needed anything. It was also unlocked completely and could call from anywhere and to anywhere, at no cost to her, so she didn't have to worry about ever being out of touch with anyone.

Amber looked flustered as she accepted it and hugged it to her chest. She whispered her thanks as I left the lounge to return to my team. We had a trip into town to enjoy and I had three girls I needed to inform about what just went on, because they were much too nosy to not realize right away that something had happened to me.

*

It had been a week since Amber had awoken from her coma. To her, it hadn't been months since her attack, it had been mere moments. It was why John Hansen's first words to her had reassured her that she was safe again instead of how she felt while fleeing across the country. Being on the run constantly was tiring and wearing on her nerves, so being safe again was nice.

Amber had also successfully resisted the urge to call John up and have him ravage her like she wanted him to. After experiencing his healing, she was sure that if he was doing her and sharing his Aura at the same time, it would be like having a religious experience. Little did she know that was almost exactly how his teammates felt about being with him, with only Ruby not having the whole experience.

The rooms she had been given at Beacon Academy were borderline luxurious and she enjoyed staying there. It was starting to get a little boring, however. Being protected all the time was both good and bad, because she was safe and also not in any danger, which meant she was not allowed to do anything exciting.

Amber thought about calling Glynda to see if she was busy, then remembered she had classes to teach and would be busy until much later in the day. That also applied to John and she started to regret that she had held off from calling him. An occasional message was okay and wouldn't hurt, would it?

She picked up her scroll and paused with her finger about to touch the messaging option. Even if she messaged him right now, he couldn't respond, because he was in class. She sighed and hugged the scroll to her chest instead of using it. It had become an important device in her eyes, because it really did let her call everyone she wanted without restriction.

Getting back in touch with her old friends hadn't taken long, especially since they thought she was dead. Dead! Amber had felt some satisfaction as she told them that yes, she was alive and had only been in a coma. The downside of suddenly reappearing like she did, was that none of her old friends had any room in their current lives for her to fit into.

Even Glynda had a full schedule and couldn't spend much time with her, which she had quickly learned was also the reason the older woman hadn't accepted John's offer to become a couple. Amber had been shocked that she had rejected him without even trying him once, then Glynda admitted that if she did let herself succumb to his charms, she would have lost herself to them and not been herself anymore.

After some thought, Amber had agreed with her. It was also why Amber herself hadn't called him since he had healed her. The feelings he engendered had made her feel things she hadn't felt so strongly before and it was kind of scary. What would happen to her if she felt them that strongly all the time? Would she lose herself like Glynda was worried about? Would she care if she did?

The scroll against her chest beeped at her and she looked at it, only to see a message from the object of her thoughts. He was between classes and the message said he was going to be free on the weekend and wondered if she wanted to do something together.

Amber's heart started beating fast as she thought about what that meant. Didn't he have three girlfriends already? Why would he reach out to her when he had three young and nubile teenagers to play with? Maybe he was only staying with them because an older woman had rejected him. If that was true, was that why Glynda always seemed so sad when she looked at them?

The biggest question in Amber's mind was if she wanted to look at him the same way. Did she want to reject his advances and always regret that she had, just like Glynda was? The answer to that... was a big... fat... NO!

Amber smiled as she responded positively to his question and agreed to meet him whenever he was free. They agreed on the time, just after breakfast, and they could decide then what they would be doing for the day. She was perfectly fine with that and ended the conversation by saying she was looking forward to it and hugged the scroll to her chest.

She smiled as she thought that losing herself for a while wouldn't be so bad.

*

“We're going to have to set up a lab or something close by, Eye. I'm not used to not having somewhere to go to work on things and I miss having a space of my own to retreat to.” I said as soon as the girls had left the dorm room.

It was a rare time when we were alone and I wasn't going to waste it. Ruby and Yang had gone home for a brief visit with their father and Penny had tagged along to visit Yang's motorcycle. She had heard a lot about it from the excited young woman and wanted to see it for herself. They might even work on it together with all the spare parts I had bought for it.

Eye beeped at me and I looked over at his display and laughed.

“We should mount it inside the giant cliff face of Forever Fall? That's brilliant, buddy! We can even have a full launch bay for our ships and equipment and no one will ever know it's there.” I praised him and Eye beeped happily at me.

We started discussing plans on how to build it and the layout for everything, including the computers and mainframes he wanted to help revamp the CCT network without anyone noticing. His patchwork on those backdoors was taking forever to propagate through everything and having the central towers themselves working in our favor would speed that up considerably.

It would be child's play to mount stealthed drones onto each of the communication towers to enhance and maybe take over their operations. They would need repair and maintenance droids to keep everything running, too. They would also have stealth systems to keep them from being stolen and reverse engineered.

As an afterthought, I decided that they also needed energy shields, just in case, and perhaps I could revisit the city-sized energy shields I had created with Gloria back in Worm. Eye agreed that was a great idea and it would be the first project we would tackle as soon as the lab was built and we had full access to our equipment.

I had another hour before I had to meet up with Amber and I needed to figure out what to wear. My normal superhero outfit was a bit too eye-catching for a normal date, so my thoughts went to what I had told her about my old fighting outfit. My head nodded at that and my Firefly clothes would be perfect.

*

Amber was a little anxious as she waited in front of the main academy building for her date. She also started to have second thoughts about the whole thing as all the students that were out and about were giving her odd looks and whispered about what she was doing there.

“Hi, Amber! You decided to arrive early, too?” A male voice asked her.

Amber turned around and caught her breath at the sight before her and all thoughts of calling the date off fled from her mind.

The dark blue denim pants he wore were slightly baggy and still showed off his muscular legs. His red long-sleeved t-shirt was tight and showed off his chest muscles even more than his Hunter outfit did, and the long trenchcoat was both functional and stylish, looked well worn, and the shotgun mounted on his back just brought the whole thing together.

“You look very pretty.” John said and Amber blushed at being caught staring. “Shall we go?”

Amber nodded and walked side by side with him towards the bullhead landing platform. Quite a few other students were heading into Vale as well, so it was fairly crowded as they boarded the waiting airship.

“I didn't realize there were so many people that leave on the weekends.” John whispered to her and led her over towards the holographic display instead of the windows that the other students were crowding around. “I'll have a private aircraft ready for our next outing.”

Amber was going to ask how he was going to arrange that when he took out his scroll and did something to it to change the television broadcast to show a map of Vale and all of the tourist attractions.

“So, what should we do first?” John asked and she just stared at him with wide eyes. He chuckled and brought up information on everything and then proceeded to give her a briefing on what they could reasonably do for several hours and also avoid most of the crowds with careful planning.

Amber could only nod along and made positive sounds when he showed her some of the things she wanted to do. It was a bit overwhelming to know that he could hack into heavily protected things so easily and she was sure that no one else knew he could do that. She didn't gasp when she thought that, because she didn't want to give away that she had figured out it was a test of her integrity.

Do I trust him enough to keep this secret, even from my friends and his friends? Amber asked herself and looked into John's eyes as he kept talking. Instead of answering her mental question, she reached over and hit the disconnect button on his scroll when a few people started to notice the visual tour he was giving her.

John's teaching face changed to show a warm smile and he nodded slightly. He took her hand and led her over to some seats and they rode the rest of the way to Vale in silence, hand in hand. They both knew she wasn't going to say anything and they were both happy about that.

*

“Harder! HARDER!” Amber yelled. “Make me yours!”

I was glad I had silenced the entire hotel room, because Amber had some lungs on her and she wasn't shy about expressing herself. She had also wanted me to take her on every surface she could see, no matter what it was. If she could sit her ass on it or be bent over it, she wanted me to take her there.

Apparently, it had been years since she had been bedded and once she decided it was going to happen, she wanted as much of it as she could get. Plus, with me sharing my Aura with her as well, any damage or pain was instantly negated and her orgasms were much more powerful because of that.

It was a little reckless of her to demand I pound her in the ass without prepping her first, until she reminded me she wanted me to reform her holes for my exclusive use and to heal her with me inside of her, just to make sure it was a perfect fit for me.

I honestly hadn't thought about doing that before and she saw the surprise on my face. She looked satisfied that she was going to be the first to offer that and it made her even more determined to do it. After a bit of begging and telling me that she didn't care how many women I had besides her, I did as she asked.

I plunged into her dark depths, making her scream and moan, then I healed her around me. She moaned even more as her second opening changed to fit me perfectly and she felt herself grip me down there even more than I did.

“Finally!” Amber exclaimed and she started to move, forward and back, and she moaned as she gushed in an almost constant stream while she impaled herself on me.

It was a little scary as she pretty much lost herself to the sensations. Amber used me to give herself a new height of pleasure that neither of us suspected was possible for her to achieve, and she did achieve it, and stayed there. Over and over she came, her whole body trembling as she moaned and gushed. It seemed to go on forever and she didn't seem like she was ever going to stop... until she did.

Amber collapsed onto the bed, panting and out of breath, and she rolled over to stare up at me with love and adoration on her face. “This was... the best I've ever felt... with anyone.”

I laid down beside her and she turned onto her side and clung to me like a monkey.

“This is also why... Glynda refused to bed you.” Amber told me.

I gave her raised eyebrows and she gave me a tender kiss in return.

“She was scared about losing herself if she gave in to the temptation.” Amber said and kissed me again. “It's not so bad, though.”

I laid there and thought about her words and what I saw her do, so I had to ask what needed to be answered. “Did you lose yourself?”

“Yes, and no.” Amber said and her hand rubbed my bare chest. “I did throw myself completely into this and it was the best sex I've ever had... or could ever have...”

“And?” I prompted when her words trailed off.

Amber gave me a warm smile. “I'm still me up here.” She said and tapped her temple. “It's just there's also you in here.” She said and tapped the skin over her heart. “I don't regret it like I'm sure Glynda would, even though she regrets never trying in the first place, too.”

I wasn't sure what to say to that.

“She's a control freak and needs things to be in a certain order. If she opened herself to let you into her life, you would wreck whatever plans she had laid out for herself.” Amber added.

“Or someone else laid out for her.” I said and Amber looked surprised. “Please give me some credit. I know Ozpin's the real control freak. If things aren't going the way he planned them, he tries to fix it so it goes back to the way he thinks it's supposed to be.”

Amber sighed and nodded. “Including me.”

“Including you.” I said and hugged her. “A returned piece to the board that he can try to use in his eternal struggle against the darkness.”

“A returned piece?” Amber asked.

“You don't think he uses chess pieces during the hunter team initiation just for show, do you?” I asked her and she gasped. “It's why I chose the Knight pieces for my team and changed the colors to match, so he couldn't assign them to another team by color or some other such nonsense.”

Amber stared at me for several moments before she spoke. “He would have spread their strengths over the weaker teams.”

“I have no doubt he would have assigned Ruby and Yang to Weiss and Blake to round them out.” I commented.

“Knights and Bishops? How would...” Amber stopped talking as she thought about it. “Oh, I see. Yang and Blake are close combat and Ruby and Weiss are medium to long range and can also fight in close quarters. It would round them out and their backgrounds would make them clash at first and then they would realize they all had bad backgrounds and work together.”

I gave her my best smile. “You definitely haven't lost your brains when you lost yourself to me, my dear Amber.”

Amber blushed and lightly swatted my chest. “I'm not so sure about that. Before I met you, I never blushed so hard in my life!”

I laughed and gave her several kisses before we relaxed and laid there in silence.

“So, where do we go from here?” Amber asked about ten minutes later.

“Well, the first thing I have to do is make you a new staff.” I said and Amber caught her breath. “Don't worry about the expense. I raided the local White Fang terrorist cell in Vale and stole their supplies and equipment before school started.”

Amber gave me wide eyes before she chuckled, then she laughed, then she guffawed.

“I've got everything from cheap Dust powder to military grade crystals, so there's no need to worry about your replacement staff being weaker than your old one.” I told her.

Amber nodded and wiped her happy tears away.

“I'll work on the armor we just bought for you, too. There are some upgrades I need to do to make them lighter and more durable, like small Earth Dust crystals for reinforcement when you add mana to them, and maybe I could add a thin layer of Earth Dust powder to the front parts to give it even more natural reinforcement.” I explained.

“John, you... can you really...” Amber whispered.

“Those are just the main ideas I had.” I said and kissed her. “Once I get my lab constructed, there's a ton of things I can do to outfit my team's new support coach.”

Amber stiffened in my arms and she stopped breathing.

“I'm sure there are a lot of things you can teach us about proper Dust use and battle tactics, especially after your years of experience.” I said and she took in a breath and let it out. “Don't worry, Amber. The paperwork will be filed by the time we return to the academy in a few hours.”

“A few hours?” Amber asked and then her eyes widened. “You can't mean...”

“Someone has shown me that they really liked being shaped for my personal use. It would be such a shame if I didn't take advantage of that.” I said with a huge smile.

A small gush of fluid from between her legs soaked my thigh and Amber blushed hard. She rolled over without being asked and stuck her firm ass up into the air and started to tremble in anticipation.

“What a beautiful sight.” I whispered and caressed her cheeks, my thumbs rubbing her soaked slit. Another little squirt came out of her as she moaned, then I mounted her again and her screams of pleasure filled the hotel room once more.

*

It hadn't been difficult to set a couple of Harvesters loose and they started excavating the lab site in the giant cliff face of Forever Fall. Several discretely placed matter converters, which was a fancy name for my atom harvester and recycle machine the size of a dumpster that I made back in the Stargate Universe, gave me tons of steel plates for construction.

I built the hangar bay door first, just to have something for the hologram of the cliff face to stick to. After that, it was all internal construction and hollowing out a large enough space for the hangar, a separate lab, and a private living area. Once the main dimensions were set, it would be easy to expand them and to add all of the comforts I had grown used to in the last world.

I added a bunch of construction droids to help build the walls, floor, and to reinforce the ceiling. It was going to take all day to finish out just the basic construction and I didn't mind being so busy. When the time for student curfew came around, I apparated back to a hidden spot near Beacon Academy and walked back to my dorm room.

Yang and Ruby were already there getting changed for bed and they greeted me happily before Ruby started to enthusiastically tell me all about their visit with her father. Penny entered the room from the bathroom and smiled at Ruby pretty much hanging off of me and talking my ear off.

I blew Penny a kiss and whispered a promise to greet her as soon as Ruby was asleep. Penny nodded and went to her own bed and talked with Yang. I easily overheard that they had pretty much rebuilt Yang's treasured motorcycle with all the parts I had purchased.

Not surprisingly, both Yang and Penny were happy about it, because they both had made great memories doing it and enjoyed each other's company. Ruby also had a great time playing with her dog Zwei and telling her dad Tiyang all about how great school was and that her being two years younger wasn't even thought about during classes.

All in all, the weekend had been the best for everyone. When I described how my date with Amber ended up, Ruby giggled constantly with a bright blush on her face. Yang on the other hand, whistled and said Amber had a lot of guts to want to submit so completely to someone else.

I couldn't even argue against that, since that was how Amber saw it as well. She fully gave herself over to the act and hadn't regretted it, which we both knew Glynda surely would have. She was too strict with her own emotions to ever consider doing anything like that and might even hate herself afterwards for it.

“Amber is going to be our support coach and will join us for our studying sessions in the afternoons and on our weekend excursions.” I told them and they looked surprised. “I already filed the paperwork, so it won't interfere with our schoolwork or classes. She's going to be another resource that will make our team that much better.”

“She agreed to that?” Ruby asked as her fingers combed through my short hair. “Isn't she the Fall Maiden? Why would she want to help us?”

I wagged my eyebrows at her.

“Of course that's why.” Yang said and laughed.

“I can be pretty persuasive when I want to be.” I said in a snooty voice.

Yang reached over and smacked my arm. “You just said it wasn't your voice you used to convince her!”

I chuckled and nodded as I conceded the point.

“We should head to bed. We have an early day tomorrow.” Penny said.

“Ah, good point. We've stayed up a lot later than usual.” I said and stood with Ruby still hanging off of me. I gave her a tender kiss and floated up to the large shelf her bed was on. “Goodnight, Ruby.”

“Goodnight, John.” Ruby said and climbed into bed.

I tucked her in and gave her another kiss, then floated down to land in front of Yang. She took the initiative and kissed me hard, whispered that she might like to try a certain thing sometime, and climbed into her bed. I tucked her in and whispered goodnight before I gave her a quick peck on the lips.

Penny was already in my bed and I climbed in with her, greeted her in a whisper, then gave her more data for her databanks. She appreciated my efforts when we were finished and she kissed me goodnight and went into sleep mode, giving me privacy in my own bed, which I was grateful for.

I laid there beside her and thought about what I had to do. With Amber on my team, I possibly had the ability to access one of the 4 relics left behind by the brother gods. The best part about that? Ozpin had one hidden at Beacon Academy and it just so happened to be the one that the Fall Maiden had the qualifications for, the Relic of Choice.

It was a royal crown with jewels placed around it in the cardinal directions, with large gems in the four main positions and small gems in the middle positions, essentially making the thing into a glittering compass without the spinning part to indicate a direction.

The thing's power was to give the wearer random visions of major choices that would affect their lives, whether it was them making the choice or not. By itself, it was fairly useless. When combined with the other relics, namely the Relic of Knowledge that would answer 3 questions a century, as long as it wasn't about revealing the future, it could change the course of a country... or the world.

What did I want to do with it? I wanted to remove it from play. Without all four relics, there was no way for Salem to call back the brother gods and they couldn't cast judgment against humanity again. The last time they did so, they killed everyone in the first iteration of humanity, except for Ozpin and Salem, whom was his wife and became his eternal rival.

As a consequence, Salem was granted immortality by the God of Darkness and Ozpin was granted eternal reincarnations into suitable hosts by the God of Light. Both proto-people were to continue their struggles to either destroy the world or save it, the choice to do so was left up to them.

Ozpin was working to stave off the destruction he knew was coming, since he had mostly given up trying to save it a long time ago, which coincidentally was about the same time he had lost most of his inherent magic.

Salem on the other hand, was more concentrated on getting revenge on Ozpin for dumping her. The corruption of the rest of the world, and killing or enslaving everyone else, was kind of a happy coincidence of her plans to ruin him and his efforts. It was kind of funny how that worked, actually.

Now that I was thinking over things, I realized I didn't need the other relics, mostly because they were difficult to acquire and also had controlling spirits. That was assuming they were still where they were supposed to be, with the four academies keeping a relic in a secret vault underneath them.

Since I had been inside Beacon's and healed Amber, that meant Ozpin had moved the crown somewhere else to hide it and keep it safe. If it was me, I would keep it close and not in the vault where Amber had her medical stasis pod. He could keep an eye on the thing and also ensured no one else could find it without his knowledge.

In the country of Mistral and under their academy was the lamp, or the Relic of Knowledge. Inside it was a Jinn, or a 12 foot tall magical genie that could stop time when released and you could ask her questions. The problem? The Spring Maiden was currently the bandit leader named Raven Branwen and she could get it whenever she wanted, thanks to her portal ability, and the headmaster named Leonardo Lionheart was a coward and one of Salem's pawns.

In the country of Vacuo under the Shade Academy, was the Summer Maiden's relic, the Relic of Destruction. It was actually a sword and the powers it had were currently unknown; but, I suspected it was that way to stop people from hunting the thing down to use it to smite their enemies. It might even have a controlling spirit, just like the other relics, and that could mean very bad things if it was ever used.

In the kingdom of Atlas, in the city of Atlas under the academy, was the Winter Maiden's relic, or the Relic of Creation. Inside the staff was a spirit named Ambrosius and he could create anything, as long as he had clearly drawn out plans and instructions. It was an odd restriction, considering it was pretty much imagination-based magic, just like the Devils had in the last universe I was in.

The headmaster named James Ironwood was firmly on Ozpin's side and he had the aged Winter Maiden under strict visitation rights of only Winter Schnee. He intended for her to become the next Winter Maiden when Fria passed on, which would be within the next few years. The old woman was also suffering dementia and forgetfulness, so she was always closely watched.

That gave me the thought to offer to visit and heal her. I took out my scroll and turned off the brightness, then checked the time difference between here and Atlas. When I looked at the distance on the map, I was surprised to see it was only about 3,500 kilometres, or about 2,100 miles. We were also in the same time zone, despite them being close to the polar cap and Vale was close to the equator.

So, my idea to message someone there was going to have to wait for about 8 hours, or until morning. That was when I realized I didn't have anyone I could message directly and I barely held in my laugh. Why would the headmaster of Atlas Academy accept a message from some unknown person that was a student in Beacon Academy? Right, he wouldn't. I doubt anyone would even mention it if I did manage to find an address to send a message to.

I closed the scroll and stored it, then rolled over on my side to cuddle with Penny and the answer was right there in front of my face. I softly chuckled and kissed her check, then hugged her tightly. Problem solved. I could get her to pass along a message to her father, the head of the Atlas Robotics Research labs, and he could give it right to Ironwood personally.

*

Amber absolutely loved her new job. She had never suspected that teaching could become such a passion for her when she first became a huntress. Her thoughts had always been focused on fighting against the scourge that threatened humanity, by getting out there and doing her part. Why would she ever think about passing on her knowledge to the next generation?

Of course, having four very enthusiastic students helped a lot as well. They pretty much absorbed her teachings like sponges and that just made her even happier to be doing it. Amber made sure to thank John for the opportunity when she had the chance and he thanked her right back for accepting to be a part of his life, which made her even happier to be included.

Amber never once wondered why she was so accepting of being a part of his group, even knowing he was waiting to bring Ruby into it as well. The man to woman ratio had skewed the entire planet's population into a more accepting mindset, especially when there were so few men available to procreate.

It was one of the main reasons there were so many more female academy students than male ones, because it was the men that needed more protection from the harshness of the world and the threat of the Grimm. Most men usually stayed closer to home, even the hunters, and they spent their spare time making more kids to help bring the world's population up.

It wasn't an official program or anything instituted by the governments, though. It was just that the younger generation of boys were encouraged to make a family instead of going into the very dangerous field of becoming a hunter.

The ratio of female to male births really messed that up sometimes, as the Arc family could attest. They had seven girls before they had a single boy; but thankfully, they had convinced him to stay home instead of going to Beacon. Jaune had already met a great girl and they had plans to marry and take over a nearby farm to get their own family going. The less said about his sisters teaching him how to do that, the better.

How did Amber know about it? It was all Ozpin could talk about. Apparently, the boy named Jaune had tried to use falsified records to enroll in Beacon Academy and he hadn't even awakened his Aura yet! It was an insane plan and Ozpin had decided he would give the idiot a chance, not really caring that Jaune could have died during the initiation. Ozpin saying 'he would have survived somehow' was not an appropriate response.

Amber applauded Ruby getting a perfect score on the long range shooting course. Ruby beamed a smile at her and then used her semblance to zoom over to John to receive her reward kiss. It made Amber and Yang laugh, so Ruby stuck her tongue out at them, making them laugh more.

It was Yang's turn on the medium range and she mecha-shifted her gauntlets into assault weapons. It was a new mode and she needed a lot of practice with them to have them work well for her. Despite her penchant for close combat, she knew she needed something to help her deal with things that wouldn't let her get close, that way she could get close and deal with them permanently.

Yang growled when she only made 56% on the course and John was suddenly there beside her and held her tenderly. She melted into his arms as he told her that she only just started using them and her improvement from the day before was significant. She just had to stick with it and she could force any flying beasts to the ground and then could kill them properly.

John gave her a reward kiss and Yang complained that she didn't deserve it yet. Ruby was suddenly there as well and hugged her as she said she wasn't the best with Crescent Rose's new sniper mode right away, either. Yang grumbled that she was too nice and Ruby gave her a mischievous smile before she stole another kiss from John and disappeared in a swirl of rose petals.

Yang huffed and then laughed, shook her head, and went over to the heavy punching bag to work off her frustration. Penny joined her and they had a quiet conversation that Amber couldn't hear. That was okay, though. Amber didn't need to know every little thing that was going on with Team HRPY, because she was the support coach, not a life coach.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” John asked her and Amber nodded. He led her over to the corner and whispered. “Did Ozpin fill you in on your role and what you can do with your powers and that they can unlock the Relic of Choice?”

Amber's emotions closed off and she gave John a blank face. “How do you know about that?”

John took a breath and let it out, almost sighing. “I did some research and I know about all 4 of the relics and who unlocks the vaults they're in.”

Amber didn't say anything in response and only looked into his eyes.

“You do realize where you were being kept in stasis was the Fall Maiden's Vault under Beacon Academy, don't you? The place only the Fall Maiden's powers can unlock and open to reach the relic?” John asked her and she sucked in a sharp breath. “So, no. You didn't figure that out.”

Amber tried to think furiously about it and still didn't know what to say.

“I was going to ask you to help me convince Ozpin to tell us where it is and how to get it.” John said.

“Why?” Amber asked.

“I wanted to destroy it...” John started to say.

“You can't destroy it, it's indestructible.” Amber said right away and felt embarrassed for both giving that secret away and for interrupting him.

John gave her a reassuring smile. “I figured it would be, considering it was made by one of the brother gods, so I want to make it impossible to use.”

“How would you do that?” Amber asked before she could stop herself.

“There are a dozen ways I can think of right off the top of my head; but, there's one surefire way and I can't tell you about it without having the crown to show it to you.” John said.

“You can't even tell me?” Amber frowned at him. “After everything we've done together?”

John sighed. “That's the thing. I'm sure if I say anything, even to someone I trust, something will happen and the method will somehow be negated or reversed.”

“Why do you think that?” Amber asked and tried to not blush at him saying he trusted her.

“Because that's how some of my bigger plans always get fucked over.” John said and Amber gasped. “If I don't keep them to myself, something or someone interferes and I have to think of something else. Since I want this to work the first time, it has to stay a secret until I have the crown.”

Amber could only stare at him after hearing that. She wanted to ask him about what other plans he had going on in his head, mostly because if him negating one of the relics was only one of his grand plans, what else was he planning to do?

“I won't beg you to help me and I won't approach Ozpin on my own. That's just asking for failure and might get me kicked out of Beacon, not to mention Vale.” John said and he actually sighed. “I'll give you some time to think about it, okay? There's no real rush, even though it feels like there should be.”

All Amber could do was nod and she watched John walk over to Ruby to give her a hand as she worked on cleaning her weapon. She had a lot to think about and she somehow knew that John's words needed to be listened to. If things really were going to happen soon, then did she really have that much time to make her decision?

Amber called an end to their training session and went back to her assigned rooms. A night of restless sleep awaited her and she wasn't looking forward to constantly rolling over in her bed as she waited for the morning to arrive.

*

I sighed as I read the response from James Ironwood. He absolutely refused to let me go anywhere near the Winter Maiden, as that might take the old woman's thoughts away from her only visitor, Winter Schnee. It was to ensure that when the old woman died, her powers would pass on to the last young woman that had been in her thoughts and no one else.

That I was a man and couldn't inherit the Maiden's powers didn't matter to him, apparently. At least he wasn't callous enough to have her murdered to gain her powers for his subordinate, he just wasn't going to do more than keep her comfortable as he let her die from old age and dementia.

“What a bastard.” Yang said and Ruby nodded.

“He is worried about John altering the rite of succession for the chosen maiden.” Penny said.

“Unnecessarily.” I said and closed the message on my scroll. “If anything, I could ensure the transfer happened successfully without endangering either of them.”

Yang gave me a surprised look. “Why didn't you tell him that in your message?”

“Because if he can't get near enough to heal the poor woman, why would Ironwood ever trust John to make the power transfer safer?” Ruby asked and we all stared at her. “Wh-what is it?”

“You keep proving how smart you are and that you deserve to be here.” Penny said and both Yang and I nodded.

Ruby blushed and ducked her head a little. “Th-thank you.”

“AWWW!” Yang squealed as she hugged and kissed her sister's cheeks a few times.

Ruby didn't try to fight her off or anything, so I exchanged looks with Penny.

“Kiss fight?” I asked and she smiled, then we both tackled Yang and Ruby onto a bed to commence the battle. By the time we were done, there was no clear winner and a lot of kisses and hugs had been liberally shared, as were laughs.

“All right, we should get ready for class.” I said and stood up. “It's another day of drudgery full of learning! The horror!”

Ruby giggled and Yang laughed, then both accepted my hands and I pulled them to their feet. I held a hand out to Penny next and she stood and hugged me briefly before letting me go.

“Both you and Ruby have done well to catch up to us so quickly.” Penny said and pulled off her sleep clothes.

“We're both missing some of the history course, just because the dates and timeline of events are so hotly debated.” I said and stripped off as well.

All three girls gave me appreciative looks.

“I doubt that's going to change within the next hundred years, assuming anyone is left to debate it.” Penny said and Yang and Ruby looked sad as they disrobed, too.

“No, don't think like that.” I said and kissed her, then I kissed Yang and then Ruby. “We're going to do everything we can to fight the darkness and we'll also look into Ruby's silver eyes. If she really is a descendant of the great warriors that Salem tried to wipe out, then she's going to be one of our most effective ways of dealing with the Grimm.”

Yang smiled at Ruby's bright blush. “Besides what we already do to slaughter them?”

“The powers of the silver eyed warriors were phenomenal against Grimm when activated.” I said and led the three of them into the bathroom. I turned on the shower and stepped in to start lathering up my hands. “Legend says they can immobilize a horde of them, can turn some of them to stone, and sometimes even vaporize them completely.”

“Wow.” Ruby whispered as she stepped in and moaned as I started washing her.

“That sounds great and all.” Yang said and started washing Penny, both having stepped in as well. “But, how does she activate them?”

“Well, they are supposed to be like a second Semblance, which usually activate in certain conditions and under extreme emotions.” I explained and the three of them nodded.

Ruby grabbed my hand and made me rub her breasts a bit more than only washing them needed. I didn't mind her pushing things a little and played with her with that hand and kept washing her with the other one.

“If that's true, then why hasn't Ruby used them?” Yang asked.

“Part of the legend states that the first time is usually in the defense of those the holder of the silver eyes loves as they are attacked by Grimm, since the powers are only useful against the Grimm.” I said and Ruby gasped. “Exactly. We've been fighting every weekend and we're just too effective as a team for you to consider any of us are in any real danger, even when the larger Grimm show up.”

“We do kick their asses really well.” Yang admitted and bit her lip as Penny washed her back and rubbed her ass.

Ruby turned to me and I lathered her hands for her. She blushed as she washed my chest. “You've been exposing me to Grimm more and more to try and get me to use my eyes?”

“Yes and no.” I said and her hands dropped lower. I didn't stop her as I sprang up for her. “Just being around Grimm should prep your inherited magic for release. The more you're exposed to the darkness energy, the more you'll get used to feeling it and how heavy the concentrations can be.”

“We all are, I think.” Yang said and Penny nodded.

I did not tell them it was because I had shared the same traits between them. I couldn't give them the silver eyes themselves, since that was a physical trait; but, I could give them everything else, like sensing energy, a stronger magic reserve, and boost their Auras and Semblances significantly.

“I wouldn't put any of you into significant danger without warning you first.” I told them and that made the three of them look happy.

Ruby was especially fascinated with me as she gave me several strokes, then she knelt to get a closer look and her hands went lower to play with my balls.

“Don't go too far, Rubes.” Yang warned her.

Ruby blushed and looked away from me as she let me go. “S-sorry.”

I chuckled and reached down to turn her head back to look at me. “She meant you don't have the time to explore much more. We need to get dressed and go to class.”

“Oh! I thought... she meant...” Ruby licked her lips and then blushed really hard.

“That, too.” Yang said with a laugh and rinsed off. She stepped out of the shower with Penny and they both started to dry off with towels. “Believe me, it takes more than a few minutes the first time you want to do anything like that.”

Ruby looked at my still hard erection and then up at my face. “Really?”

“Really.” I said and helped her stand. We rinsed off and stepped out to dry off as well. “The first time is really neat and kind of fun to explore, to see the reactions to different touches, and to cause certain sounds to come from the person you're with.”

“I spent 37 minutes exploring with John the first time before doing the main act.” Penny said, almost proudly. “The second time he surprised me and gave me more similar data to parse.”

“I bet.” Yang said with a knowing smile and we went into the team's bedroom to dress in the academy uniform. “Before you get any ideas, it's different for everyone, Rubes.”

We all spent about ten minutes dressing and checking each other over to make sure we were all presentable.

“That right. Even identical twins would have different experiences, even though technically they are copies of the same person.” I said as we left the dorm room and went to the main building to eat before we attended the first class of the day. “We all experience those things differently, which is great.”

“Yeah, because if it was always the same, what would be the point after the first time? It would be booooooriinnng!” Yang said and Ruby giggled.

“I agree. John has not been boring.” Penny said as we entered the cafeteria. “Good morning, everyone.”

A chorus of hellos and waves answered her and Penny smiled and waved back. She always enjoyed interacting positively with people. The work I had done on her systems and her more natural interactions with myself and the girls during the last few weeks had really done wonders for her behavior subroutines.

We quickly ate and went to the first class, History, and it was just a rehash of what Ruby and I had already studied to catch up to Yang and Penny, so the four of us ignored the teacher and discussed this evening's coaching lesson from Amber and what she might suggest we work on.

*

Ozpin sat behind his desk and stared at the compromised Fall Maiden in front of him and tried to figure out how John Hansen had convinced her to betray her purpose, his mission, and the safety of all humanity.

Amber Autumn sighed at the look on the man's face. “Now I see why John said he would never approach you alone about this. You're not even considering telling me where it might be hidden and you're trying to justify getting rid of me instead.”

Ozpin sipped his cocoa and tried to keep his expression blank, because that comment had hurt.

Amber saw his slight flinch. “I meant remove me from Beacon and possibly Vale, not kill me.”

That does hurt a little less. Ozpin thought. “Why does he need access to one of the fabled relics?”

“He knows they're indestructible and can't destroy it, so he wants to make it impossible to use.” Amber said and held a hand up when Ozpin opened his mouth to ask about that. “He said if he told me, then someone...”

Silence fell in the office as Amber stopped talking and realized Ozpin could be the someone that John had been talking about, which meant she might have just screwed over the man she was rapidly falling in love with by coming to Ozpin on her own about the relic.

“...or something would happen to interfere, then his plan wouldn't work and he would have to figure something else out.” Amber finally said in a kind of defeated tone.

Ozpin sighed at hearing that and took another sip of his cocoa. “I am not your enemy, Amber. I am trying my best to protect the remnants of humanity.”

Amber stiffened at the realization that might be why the world was called Remnant. They were the last of the humans on the planet and Ozpin was fighting to let them live for as long as he could... and he was slowly losing.

“Is that why you used my unconscious body to open the vault under Beacon and removed the relic?” Amber asked and saw Ozpin's eyes widen slightly. “John was right about that, too.”

Ozpin opened his mouth to refute it, then let out another sigh. “He seems to know a lot for a young man that only recently appeared here in Vale.”

“Did you just call him an idiot for not being born in a city?” Amber asked as a light wind started to flow around the office and her eyes started to glow.

Ozpin didn't try to take a sip of his now rapidly cooling cocoa to give himself a moment to think about his response. “I merely said he has a lot of knowledge that the average citizen shouldn't have.”

“That's a polite way to say the same thing.” Amber said, her anger leaking into her voice.

Ozpin had known she was compromised and his probing statements just proved how far she had fallen. “Please calm down. I only wanted to test...”

The wind increased to a gale and the papers on his desk flew away in a swirl and his cocoa frosted over. Ozpin didn't shiver, even though the bitterly cold wind was biting his skin. He had been used to harsher conditions a long time ago and his own Aura didn't snap into place, despite the attack.

“Will you hand over the relic or not?” Amber asked as she floated slightly up into the air and lightning crackled over her hands and a storm cloud formed above her.

Ozpin shook his head. “I cannot compromise the safety of the human race by giving an unknown person access to a relic that could doom us all if it was used.”

“HE DIDN'T SAY HE WAS GOING TO USE IT!” Amber yelled.

A bolt of lightning struck the huge desk and burned a hole through the ancient thing like it was paper and it didn't light on fire because the high winds blew it out before it could start.

“Are you going to betray your pledge again and attack me, Fall Maiden?” Ozpin asked and didn't move to defend himself.

*BANG!*

The office door slammed open and John Hansen strode in like he owned the place.

“She wouldn't betray her oath to protect humanity if she did attack you, since you are a reincarnated member of the First Race, oh Great Wizard of Oz.” John said.

Both Amber and Ozpin gasped, shocked at what he said. Amber because she didn't know and Ozpin because no one else should have known. John held his hand up in the air and Amber slowly lowered herself down and took hold of it, then she was in his arms and cuddled him as the storm cloud dissipated and the winds slowed down before fading away.

“Where did you learn that title?” Ozpin asked with a trace of his power lacing his words.

“There are more things under heaven that are left unexplained than there are grains of sand.” John said and didn't let Amber go. “You shouldn't have come here by yourself.”

Amber looked embarrassed. “I know. As soon as I started to tell him what you said about your plan, I realized he was the first person it could be reference to.”

John nodded. “Since he took the crown and hid it, knowing Cinder might come after you to get the second half of the powers she stole, it was smart to put you into the deactivated vault instead.”

“Then you killed her.” Amber said, a little sadly.

“I hadn't intended for her to die then.” John admitted and both Amber and Ozpin looked shocked. “I only wanted to disable their escape transport because I wanted to capture Cinder to bring her to you, fully secured of course, to give you back your full powers.”

Amber almost purred at that admission and kissed him briefly.

“It was just fortuitous that her last thoughts must have been about you and not successfully taking all of your power for herself.” John said and she nodded. “Once you had your powers back, then she could have been dealt with to stop Salem from using her to further her agenda to get revenge against her husband.”

“Against her...” Amber caught her breath and her eyes went to Ozpin's face to see a flash of guilt there. “Oh, I get it now. It's not about humanity at all, is it? It's a power struggle between two avatars of the brother gods and the people are just pawns in a great game of survival.”

Ozpin didn't bother trying to explain himself or tried to say she was either right or wrong.

“That's why I wanted to remove the crown from play. Without it, there's no way for Salem to win their bet and bring the judgment of the brother gods back to Remnant.” John said and rubbed Amber's back to keep her calm. “With you here and the crown here, it was the easiest relic to retrieve and we could save the world with minimal effort, because the time limit of Salem winning would be extended indefinitely.”

“She would have to go to each village, town, and city to destroy every settlement and stronghold. It's the only way to remove all of humanity and win.” Amber said in understanding.

“It's a nearly impossible task, even with all the Grimm, because there are still people living out in the wilds and they haven't been lost or overrun.” John said with a smile. “In fact, the bandits under the Branwen Tribe kill more people and destroy more settlements than the Grimm do on their own.”

Ozpin sighed at that, because he knew who the leader was and she was working against her oaths as a huntress as well. Instead of protecting humanity like she swore, she was actively murdering and enslaving people as she increased the Grimm threat and making it easier for Salem to expand her influence.

“Are we going to hunt her down?” Amber asked, hope in her voice.

“We have to now.” John said and glanced at Ozpin. “If the supposed leader of the light won't actively help ensure the relic he has can't ever be used, then we have to hunt another maiden down.”

Amber gasped. “She has access to a Maiden?”

“Yes, she does. The Spring Maiden, actually.” John said. “She can retrieve the relic whenever she wants, too.”

“Wh-what? How?” Amber asked, shocked. “I thought there was a trial or a test or something!”

“Raven's Semblance is a portal power. I don't know the distance or what other restrictions she has; but, since Ozpin empowered her and gave her a magical crow form, just like he did with her brother Qrow, she can go anywhere she wants completely undetected.”

Amber let out a whispered curse and turned to the headmaster of Beacon Academy. “For someone that's so smart, you're an idiot!”

Ozpin didn't comment about how upset she had been over him saying the same thing about the man in her arms. “I have made some mistakes in the past...”

“You're making another one by not helping us!” Amber almost shouted at him.

Ozpin closed his mouth and didn't respond.

“Did you know James Ironwood refused to let me heal the current Winter Maiden so that Winter Schnee can inherit the maiden powers faster?” John asked and Amber gasped.

“Is that true?!?” Amber shouted and her eyes glowed.

John had to let her go to take out his scroll and showed her the message.

“Ozpin.” Amber growled and another storm cloud started to form overhead. “Answer him.”

Ozpin thought about refusing, then sighed. “I was consulted about the possibility.”

A crack of lightning snapped out from the cloud and shattered Ozpin's frozen cup of cocoa.

Amber stepped forward and felt John's hand on her shoulder. She didn't shake it off and let him hold her back. “What would you have done with me if John hadn't been here to heal me?”

Ozpin's mouth formed a thin line. “An appropriate replacement for the Fall Maiden would have been chosen and with a slightly invasive medical procedure, your powers would have been transferred to her.”

Another crack of lightning shot out and hit Ozpin's glasses as his green colored Aura snapped into place.

“That's enough of a tantrum I am willing to accept from you, Amber.” Ozpin said, his voice firm.

“What are you going to do? Kill me?” Amber asked. “You were going to do that anyway!”

Ozpin slowly stood and Amber braced to fight. “I am responsible for the safety of the entire human race and I refuse to allow you or anyone else to judge my actions unfairly. I am ensuring the powers I gave to the Maidens to protect people are given to a suitable candidate to continue the fight against the darkness when they are no longer able to.”

“You...” Amber started to say.

“Yes, me. As Mister Hansen as unfortunately informed you, I am a reincarnation of the original Ozma. I have lived several lifetimes since I gave your progenitor her powers and I have ensured they have passed on to the right people whenever I could. The very first Fall Maiden was a kind, selfless, caring young woman that put a stranger above all other concerns.”

Amber felt a tug on her shoulder where John's hand was and she stepped back to deescalate the situation. “If that's true, then how did she die?”

Ozpin opened his mouth briefly and then closed it without saying anything. His green Aura slowly faded away and he sat down.

“The people of the time were not as accepting of Aura and magical powers like they are today.” John told her.

Amber let out a huff. “Of course that's how it was.”

Ozpin stayed silent and didn't try to refute their words. It was a different time and their society had changed a lot since then.

“We're not going to convince you to tell us where the crown is, are we?” John asked.

“No.” Ozpin said and his tone was final.

“Then we'll stop wasting your time and leave.” John said and scooped Amber up into his arms in a princess carry. “When should my team expect discharges from the academy and eviction notices from the assigned rooms?”

“The only disruptions lately have been because of you.” Ozpin said.

John smiled knowingly. “Do you really think that Ruby, Yang, and Penny would let me leave Beacon Academy to transfer to another one without them?”

“Transfer?” Amber asked and hugged his neck.

“Sure. We're the top team of the entire school and the other students are striving to be as good as us. The only recruitment offer that's been rescinded was the one from Atlas.” John said.

“Because you wanted to heal the Winter Maiden and Ironwood wants to keep you as far away from her as possible.” Amber said.

“Exactly.” John said and started to walk towards the still open office door. “So, where would you like to go? We have the choice between two other hunter academies and we might have an easier time convincing their headmasters to talk to us.”

“Why?” Amber asked.

“They are only friendly with Ozpin and aren't deep in his conspiracy like Ironwood is.” John said turned sideways to step out through the door.

“Wait.” Ozpin said and tried to not sigh at how right the young man was about the loyalties of the other two headmasters. “Ruby Rose cannot be allowed to leave the academy. She is here for her protection and if anyone that works for Salem discovers she has silver eyes, she will be hunted down and killed.”

John gave him an unimpressed look. “How does that affect you getting rid of me?”

Ozpin sighed. “I may have been hasty in wanting you expelled to end your disruption to my plans.”

Amber huffed and rested her head in the crook of John's neck. “You realized that removing two valuable assets would remove another one? With no mention of her sister and the student transferred from Atlas? How shocking.”

Ozpin took a deep breath and let it out. “You may both stay, as long as you stop pursuing the relics to use their powers.”

“Weren't you listening? We're not pursuing the relics for that.” Amber reminded him. “We only need one and when it's dealt with, we ensure the survival of humanity. Why is that so difficult for you to accept?”

Ozpin had no response to that and didn't respond.

“You're afraid that someone else can do your assigned task better than you can.” John said when he realized the truth. “Despite how many times you've fought and lost against Salem, you don't want anyone else to accept the responsibility of dealing with her.”

Ozpin remained silent, which was an answer all by itself.

“We'll stay here and lay low for now.” John said and Amber nodded. “Like I told her, there's no rush to deal with one of the relics, even though it feels like there should be.”

Ozpin could only nod and the pair left his office. He reached for his cup of cocoa and his hand brushed against a piece of ceramic mug. His sigh over losing his favorite mug was loud in the silence of the office.

*

Over the next few nights, I managed to finish enchanting and expanding the hangar, lab, and living space to the proper proportions. I didn't make it identical to what I had made previously, just because there had been a lot of good memories and bad ones there and I didn't need to relive either of them for now. I had a life here to live and an objective to deal with.

Unlike my normal behavior when I arrived in a new world, I knew this time I was fighting against the encroaching darkness. It was pervasive and was tainting everything, especially The Force, so I couldn't use that or anything associated with it, namely the power rings. I also couldn't create any magical clones of anyone, because of the darkness corrupting them like in the last world.

I could deal with that later if I ever wanted to, though. For now, I had drones to manufacture, a construction system and harvesters to create, and I needed to make a trip out to the moon to get the cleanup started.

A lot of measurements and scans needed to be done and the satellites set into place, that way the effects on the planet could be observed and to make sure that the moon's current mass was stable and not adversely affecting the tides and weather patterns.

Once I had the numbers I needed, I could begin re-purposing the place to recreate the last thing I did to the moon. Since it was already opened up and broken apart, cleaning out the still solid half to reinforce it and rebuild it into becoming a fully formed moon once more, should only take time and effort.

The down side was that people might see the chunks of moon being broken down by the harvesters and consumed for their dirt and metals, which also reminded me that I needed to send out some Crybaby mappers to see if there were any asteroids, other planets, and anything else in the local solar system.

In fact, I didn't even know if this was the only planet orbiting around the local sun. If it was, I expected there to be a lot of asteroid fields to take up the rest of the gravity field that the sun created, unless its mass was so low that we were in the temperate zone without the help of other planets to keep us stable and within that zone.

Of course, this was all assuming there were basic scientific principles being applied to the universe and it wasn't all just a magical construct created by the two brother gods. If the old lore was right, then there was a sun at the center of the solar system and there was a moon, and that was it.

The reason the broken off pieces of moon didn't fly off over the centuries since the gods left, might be because gravity wasn't a factor in the whole process. This only made me want to get out there sooner, mostly because everyone knew that Dust didn't work when it was outside the atmosphere of the planet, which technically shouldn't be the case. It was crystallized energy and shouldn't be limited like that, yet it was.

I worked for a week to finish up the preparations for the moon project, which was about 7 hours overnight in real time, and managed to squeak out a launch just before dawn that no one had seen or detected. It was the best time to do things like that because no one was awake or paying attention.

Eye beeped from his console and showed me the updated CCT network and satellite feeds as he kept track of the automated Firefly and its trajectory. It had the factory parts inside and the construction robots would handle assembling it over the next few days. Once it was in place, I would have to go up there myself and start on the reconstruction of it.

I had intentionally not collected any more lands, just in case they were tainted by the darkness. I didn't want to become a carrier or wanted to spread it through any subsequent worlds I travelled to. The last thing anyone needed was for me to spread the darkness to even more worlds than it had already infested.

I also suspected that the reason this universe was succumbing so quickly was because there wasn't much here for it to corrupt and take over. If there were only a few celestial bodies for it to overcome and only a couple sentient species, then it was kind of surprising that it hadn't already taken everything over, even if I had stepped into the timeline when I did.

Was that a part of my power? Was the darkness not just infecting the current world and time, it was infecting all times and any sub-dimensions that might be attached to the planet? Maybe the brother gods left a bit more of a connection to their home dimension than anyone else knew?

I shook that thought off and watched Eye's monitors as the Firefly reached outer space and then easily and quickly reached the moon, meaning it was nowhere near as far away as it was supposed to be.

“This isn't looking good, buddy.” I said and patted him.

“Beep.” Eye said, sadly.

“Yeah, I think this is another empty system that restricts us from going anywhere else but here.”

We watched as the ship dropped off everything and the hologram wearing a mobile holo-emitter helped the droids organize the material analyzer and harvesters before the ship lifted off and flew around the moon to start the extensive survey. The readings were not coming up as a normal moon or had the right composition, which meant my current plans were not going to work as they were.

I double-checked the initial readings and shook my head. “I hate being right sometimes.”

“Beep.” Eye agreed.

“Well, there's not much we can do about it until the survey's complete and the factory is built.” I said and walked over to the lab's exit. “I'm going to head up to the dorm and spend a few hours with the girls before class. See you later.”

“Boop.” Eye said and went back to observing the data being collected and refined.

*

Sienna Khan, the leader of the White Fang and a Tiger faunus, sat in her office and fumed. Her terrorist cell in Vale had completely disappeared after one of their longtime members had fled. She assumed Blake Belladonna had reported the cell to the authorities and the members of the local White Fang cell were either arrested or made to disappear, since that was what she would have done to cover her own tracks.

She called in a few of her most loyal members and gave them their orders. They needed the Dust supplies and weapons shipments Adam Taurus had stolen to further their cause and Sienna would have them retrieved, no matter the cost. The humans would pay, as would Blake Belladonna, even if she was the daughter of the previous leader of their organization.

No one crossed the White Fang and got away with it. No one.

*

Another week passed and Team HRPY apparently finished clearing out the Evergreen Forest. Once the last of the ward stones were set into place, I had Eye activate them and the entire forest was covered in a magical ward so strong that nothing could cross it. Penny opened her scroll and checked the readings, giving us the top-down view of the forest and it showed the blips of the Grimm we had missed.

“That's really handy.” Yang said and Ruby nodded.

“How does it work?” Amber asked.

Penny recorded the coordinates of the closest readings and matched them to her own sensors.

“It detects any energy signatures as anomalies, either electronic or Grimm. Since it's supposed to be a completely empty forest, according to the records, then anything that shows up has a significant enough power level to be detected.” I explained.

“Why did you invent this?” Penny asked. “It's utility is limited after you explained the requirements for setting the entire thing up.”

I chuckled and gave the signal for everyone to run. “You can see for yourself its purpose.”

“To clean up the remains of the Grimm?” Ruby asked.

“Not only that.” I said and made another set of hand signals to split apart to surround the enemy and to switch to comms.

“It lets you find anyone else that's trespassing or lost in the forest!” Ruby exclaimed.

“Bingo!” I said as we converged on the group of Grimm.

A quick volley of fire softened them up and a sweep of Lightning Bolts from Amber finished them all off.

“Okay, that was way too easy!” Yang said and high-fived her sister Ruby.

“Next target.” Penny said and showed us and we easily repeated the manoeuvre. Two more times had the entire Grimm forest clear and we ended up at a large pool of darkness that seemed to absorb light.

“What the hell is that thing?” Yang asked and shivered at the feeling of malevolence coming from it.

“That, my dear Yang, is a direct connection to the darkness that the avatar of the God of Darkness is using to corrupt the planet and undo his brother's work.” I told her and Amber, Ruby, and Yang gasped. Penny just nodded, since the readings were strongest from the pool that was located in the geographical center of the Emerald Forest.

“What do we do with it?” Amber asked. “I doubt blasting it or blowing it up is going to work.”

“It's not.” I said and turned to look at Ruby. “I need to ask the most precious member of our team if she will allow me to enhance her magical powers.”

The four girls gave me strange looks before they gathered into a huddle an whispered furiously. I intentionally distracted myself by taking out my scroll and checking on the progress on the moon's reconstruction. Since the composition was different than a normal moon, harvesting the inside was going so quickly that the outer shell's framework was nearly complete.

“We can't let Ruby go through whatever process you've come up with without testing it first.” Yang said, her voice full of determination. “I'll go through it first to test it, then Penny will fully check me over before we'll let you go anywhere near Ruby.”

I looked at the faces of Penny and Amber and they looked just as determined as Yang. Ruby looked both embarrassed and happy as her face flushed red. I let them sweat for a moment before I smiled.

“I expected nothing less from the people that love her as much as I do.” I said and all four of them relaxed. “Let me tell you about some magical devices in the shape of chess pieces and what they do.”

Half an hour later, the explanation was done and the girls heavily debated about what pieces they wanted and what ones suited them best. Surprisingly, when they were done, they had each chosen the same pieces that I had mentally assigned them.

Yang would become my Rook, because of her normal fighting style of close combat, giving her enhanced strength and power.

Penny would become my Knight, because of her Semblance use of swords and lasers for attacks, and it would enhance her speed and skill to ridiculous levels. Thanks to the modifications I had given her, she should easily absorb the Evil Piece that suited her best.

Amber would become my Bishop, because of her inherited magical heritage as the Fall Maiden, and it would boost her magic abilities to the point that she will become a massive magical powerhouse.

Finally, Ruby would become my Queen, giving her an all around boost to everything, since the Queen Piece had all the same powers as the other three pieces and would enhance her own combat and magic skills, as well as her speed.

“What about you?” Yang asked before I could initiate the quick ritual.

“I already have the King Piece installed.” I said and tapped my chest. “Thanks to you four accepting this, I'll soon have my court as well and we will be together for as long as I'm on this world.”

All four of them beamed smiles at me.

“Now close your eyes, all of you.” I ordered and they did so.

I apparated us into my lab, which was under my heaviest protections, and I put up an illusion to hide that we were somewhere else and activated all of the safety protections, including an energy shield to absorb any backlash. I couldn't take the chance of performing any magic ritual near the source of darkness, since it might corrupt it in some way.

A quick recital of the spell and I put the Rook piece into Yang's chest. Yang gasped as the magical energies flowed through her, her Aura snapping into place and healing the changes to her. Panacea, Eye, and I had enhanced the Pieces millennia ago to accelerate the conversion process from days to only seconds, so the small light show was over almost as soon as it started.

“How do you feel?” I asked her and used several devices and spells to check her. “You can all open your eyes and look.”

Yang was suddenly surrounded and she was petted, hugged, and prodded a few times by her teammates. She was happy to have the attention and basked in their concern and their love for her.

“I detect a 300% increase in her abilities and over 100 times her normal lifespan.” Penny said, shocking the other girls and silence fell around us.

“DO ME NOW!” Ruby yelled into the silence, shocking them again.

Yang was the first to laugh at the double meaning, then Amber started in, then Penny softly chuckled.

Ruby blushed and laughed, too. “You know what I meant!”

“We do, you cute little gremlin.” Yang said and ruffled her sister's hair. “That's why it was so funny.”

Ruby pouted at her and huffed as she crossed her arms.

“How is everything looking, Penny?” I asked and she sent me the data on my scroll. I nodded at her also confirming that the process was complete and there were no anomalies. “What's your verdict?”

“Meeting you has been the best thing I could have ever done.” Penny said and hugged and kissed me.

“Aww!” Yang said and hugged us, careful of her new strength.

“I will go next.” Amber said and no one objected. She and Yang exchanged places and everyone closed their eyes, even though I hadn't told them to, and I performed the short ritual.

Unlike Yang, Amber had a lot of inherent magic, because she was the Fall Maiden. Her reaction to a massive power boost was quite a bit different as a massive storm cloud formed above our heads and dozens of lightning bolts and cracks of thunder accompanied her transformation, splashing against the shield protecting us. It dissipated just as quickly as it had formed and Amber stopped glowing.

“Wow.” Ruby whispered as she stared at Amber with her eyes slightly glowing white.

“We're getting closer to her own activation.” Penny told me in a whisper as she showed me Amber had a 500% boost to her magic. “I should be next to let Ruby be last. Amber's reaction to enhancing her inherent magic was prolific and Ruby's should be phenomenal.”

I nodded. “Penny is next and we'll save Ruby for last, since she is the most important one.” I declared and the four of them nodded.

Penny changed places with Amber and they closed their eyes as she was enhanced by a Knight Piece. Like with Yang, there wasn't much in the way of physical or magical reactions, except for her Aura snapping into place and healing her. Her 400% boost to her abilities was going to be quite the change for her to adapt to as well.

“It's your turn now, Ruby. Are you ready?” I asked.

Ruby changed places with Penny and blushed. “Y-yes, John. I'm ready to become your Queen.”

I gave her a warm smile and she closed her eyes. Instead of initiating it right away, I took her into my arms and gave her a passionate kiss. Ruby let out a soft moan and kissed me back just as enthusiastically and we stayed like that for several seconds.

“Is it over yet?” Yang asked, her eyes still closed.

“No.” Penny said. “Believe me, you're going to feel it when it happens.”

I broke the kiss and Ruby's face was bright red. “Happy Birthday, Ruby.” I said and performed the quick ritual as I slid the Queen Piece into her chest. I stepped back just in time, because a white light as bright as the sun engulfed the entire lab and the magical generators powering the shields whined as they were nearing overload.

“AHHHHHHHH!” Ruby screamed as her solid silver eyes shot open and she floated up into the air.

I turned away from her and covered myself, Amber, Yang, and Penny with protective spells and apparated us all back into the Emerald Forest to beside the churning pool of darkness.

The dozen Grimm crawling out of the pool were instantly vaporized as the sun bright white light seared them out of existence. Huge white wings made of light came from Ruby's back and the brightness of the light increased.

“Ruby! Focus on the pool!” I shouted and copied her currently overcharged ability. “Destroy the darkness tainting the world!”

Ruby's sightless eyes moved from straight forward and looked down. An unholy scream came from the pool, sounding like a woman being tortured, and I turned to look. The churning darkness calmed and settled down to become almost like a mirror, except it was absorbing the light instead of reflecting it.

It took almost a full minute before the darkness started to change and turn from unfathomable blackness into a dull grey on the edges. Once it started, it quickly spread inwards towards the center of the pool of darkness. The unholy scream eased off as the greyness reached the center and then it was gone. The greyness changed from a liquid into grainy stone and then the bright light faded away.

Ruby closed her eyes and fell unconscious as she fell from the air. I jumped over to catch her and cradled her in my arms, then I checked her over. Her breathing was normal and her pulse was steady.

“RUBY!” Yang yelled and jumped on me. “What happened? Is she okay? I'll kill you if she's hurt!”

I couldn't help but chuckle at that and moved an arm from around Ruby to hug Yang. “She's fine, Yang. She's just exhausted after using her newly activated magic to destroy the pit of darkness.”

“She... destroyed it?” Yang asked and glanced at the pit that was now solid stone.

“There is no activity at all in the forest.” Penny said and she knelt on my other side and ran scans on Ruby. “She really is fine.”

Yang sighed and cuddled into me and her sister.

“After seeing that, I understand why you made her queen.” Amber said and hugged me from behind.

“Actually, I knew she would benefit the most from having the speed, combat enhancement, and magic boost from the Queen Piece.” I told them. “If she was any other Piece, she would actually hurt her own development.”

“She's going to become the best Huntress on the planet.” Yang said in understanding.

“She already is.” I said, fondly. “Now everyone else is going to know it, too.”

*

Ozpin stumbled backwards from the large window in his office and fell against his desk. He braced his hands on the smooth surface and he tried to come to grips with what he just saw and felt. His own lagging magic potential had surged as the blindingly bright white light of the God Of Light had engulfed the entire Emerald Forest.

He had no idea what just happened or what had triggered such a huge magical outburst. His office door slammed open and he ignored it as he stared at the forest and tried to come to grips over what it meant to have such an obvious sign from one of the brother gods.

“Professor Ozpin!” Glynda almost shouted and grabbed his shoulder to shake him. “Snap out of it, sir! We have a situation! Everyone in Vale saw that!”

Ozpin blinked his eyes and was glad his sunglasses had provided him a small modicum of protection from the searing brightness.

“OZPIN!” Glynda yelled and shook him again. “The students are panicking and the townspeople are split between panic and rejoicing!”

Ozpin took a deep breath and let it out. “Send word to the students and the population of Vale. I'll make an announcement explaining it was a test to help deal with the Grimm.”

Glynda looked at him like he was crazy. “They'll never believe that.”

“They will.” Ozpin said and pushed himself up off his desk and bent down to pick up his dropped cane. “Check the surveillance cameras in the Emerald Forest, central view.”

Glynda sighed and opened her scroll to do that and gasped at what she saw. Ozpin turned and looked at the display and nodded, because his suspicions had been right on the money. Team HRPY was right there in a huddle and they had an unconscious Ruby in their arms.

“A legendary Silver-Eyed Warrior has appeared.” Ozpin said, his voice firm. “After that show, the whole world is going to know about it.”

Glynda nodded and started making calls and sent out a message on both the school's PA system, or public address system, and the local hologram announcement service. If Ozpin was right, and she was sure he was, then Team HRPY was about to become very, very famous, whether they wanted to be or not.

*

Salem sat on her throne inside the Evernight Castle in the Land Of Darkness and cupped one of her hands to her chest. She had felt like someone had ripped off one of her fingers and the pain had been excruciating. She hadn't actually lost any of her fingers; but, it sure felt like it. One of them was even slightly numb and she couldn't explain it or knew what happened.

Something had affected her suddenly and she needed to find out what it was. She wasn't unfamiliar with having phantom pains and this one was no different, except she usually had some inkling as to what had caused it. With little choice but to accept her ignorance for now, she called for her nevermore crows to search for any discrepancies or empty spots within in her metaphorical reach.

A bloody crystal ball with wispy tendrils hanging from it, called a Seer, floated over to her. Salem knew that it would take time for her to find what she was looking for, even if she didn't know what it was she was looking for. She was thousands of years old and was well used to having patience for such things. When she found out what had hurt her, there would be hell to pay.

*

The media blitz had been astounding after Ozpin's announcement that heralded the return of the long thought extinct Silver Eyed Warrior race. This was not necessarily a good thing, even if it did bring hope to a lot of people, and that feeling of hope had reduced the threat of Grimm attacks on an almost global scale.

The problem came a few days later when several of Salem's agents were also informed about the White Light incident and they reported it to the ancient witch. She didn't dismiss their reports or let her anger show at finding one of the people she had thought she exterminated a long time ago.

Her own investigations had also turned up a huge blind spot in where her magic could reach and it just so happened to be in Vale and right at the spot where the White Light had appeared. She also couldn't get anyone or anything inside the usually unrestricted forest, no matter what kind of creature she sent, hybrid or not. Not even the normal size nevermore crows could enter the forest and that frustrated her.

It did give Salem someone to focus on, however. Team Harpy's star member, Ruby Rose. Apparently, her mother had been someone Salem had personally tortured and murdered as she interrogated the woman about Ozpin's plans for the Maiden Powers. The irony was not lost on Salem that the woman she had killed years ago had a daughter that had hurt her in turn.

With a known target and that target's location, Salem arranged for a certain creature to leave its normal stomping grounds in the ocean near Atlas to travel to Vale. It was going to hunt down and eliminate the last Silver-Eyed Warrior before she could cause Salem any more pain, phantom or otherwise.

*

I sat on my bed and sighed at the scroll in my hands as the news ran the story about Ruby's awakening again. Even with Eye's help during the last two weeks, it was impossible to stop them from broadcasting it over the emergency channels or hiding the evidence that it happened. That was one of the reasons both Eye and I hated a decentralized communication network, because we couldn't control it all.

It had been a dick move by Ozpin to release the story and claim it was to keep Ruby safe, when it was actually him wanting to keep her confined within the walls of Beacon Academy and under his control. Since he knew I would never leave without her, and Amber wouldn't leave without me, he had effectively trapped us here and we couldn't go and retrieve one of the other relics to make it impossible to use.

That pissed me off, mostly because he still wouldn't tell us where the Relic of Choice was or why he was actively trying to stop us from fighting the Grimm by denying our weekend excursions. He had even tried having the Evergreen Forest released from my protective shielding by having teams of hunters attack the various emitters.

After Eye had used the first warning shots by the drones to scare the hunters off and it didn't work, I authorized debilitating injuries. It had taken almost twenty crippled hunters and huntresses before Ozpin called the mission off and the arrogant asshole sent them to me to have them healed.

I had refused, of course. I also told them that I wasn't going to heal people that willingly and intentionally attacked me and mine. They tried to deny it, as did their teams, so I showed them the footage and that shut them up. I then told them to crawl back to Ozpin and tell him to use the advanced medical equipment Atlas had given him to treat them, assuming he still had it.

Now we were restricted from leaving our dorm room for anything, not even for food, which was delivered regularly. At least he wasn't trying to starve or poison us. Yes, I always checked everything before letting anyone eat, especially Ruby.

“We're going to start falling behind our classes again.” Ruby said as she sat beside me and cuddled into my side. Her silk camisole and her braless state had left nothing to the imagination and she really liked that I closed my scroll and I couldn't help but admire her.

“With the way things are going, I doubt any of us are going to care about graduating from here.” Yang said and crawled over Ruby and my lap to lay down on my other side. She also wore only a camisole and her much larger breasts jiggled nicely.

“I have downloaded everything we need from the academy's computers to self-study.” Penny said. “We would only need to pass the final exams to qualify as independent hunters and huntresses and not from any academy. That will reduce the pay and rewards we will earn as an unaffiliated Hunter Team, however.”

I sighed again and Ruby reached up and pet my hair. I let out a fake purr for her and she giggled.

*BEEP! BEEP! BEEEEEEEEP!*Beep!*BEEP! BEEP! BEEEEEEEEP!*

“That's the emergency Grimm attack alarm!” Ruby shouted.

I opened my scroll and all the news stations were now showing an absolutely massive Grimm coming out of the water near the main harbour. It looked like Godzilla but with the head of a dolphin. It was also mostly black with white armor plates down its back and a large bone mask covering its face.

“That... that's Leviathan.” Yang whispered and trembled, clearly scared.

“H-how? He's supposed to be near Atlas!” Ruby almost shouted. “They made a big robot called Colossus to fight him when he attacks, too!”

I knew almost right away that Salem must have sent the thing after us, no, after Ruby when she had cleansed one of the Grimm spawning pits. It made me wonder if Salem actually felt the loss or only heard about it.

The giant Grimm started to approach the land, walking out of the water and crushing the boats that couldn't get out of the way.

“We're dead.” Amber whispered as the giant Grimm roared and we heard it both on my scroll and through the walls. “We're all going to die.”

“We must escape and retreat.” Penny said. “Our sole focus is to protect Ruby, since she is the only one that can fight things like that.”

Ruby paled and started trembling, too.

“No.” I said, my voice firm. “Eye, release the hounds.”

The four girls looked at me in confusion and I hit the button to deploy the holographic display. It showed the large cliff face of Forever Fall as the gigantic hangar door appeared and opened, then six Fireflys flew out in a diamond formation, their undersides facing each other, and the huge weapons they had were easily seen.

“Fire.” I ordered as the hologram followed the ships and six fully powered Planetary Assault Weapons fired as one. Six solid white energy beams, the same type of energy Ruby had used, tore through the gigantic Grimm like it was tissue paper, then the ships did a barrel roll and fired again.

The Grimm roared as it disintegrated in a cloud of black smoke and the giant bone mask fell to the ground. It smashed through one of the large docks and landed snout first as it embedded itself into the dirt. Unlike weaker Grimm, the large bone mask didn't fade away after the creature died.

Yang, Ruby, and Amber stared at the hologram as if it was going to explode.

“I want one.” Penny said with a hungry growl and I nodded.

“Camouflage and return to base.” I ordered and the six ships faded from sight and the large hangar doors disappeared as well. “So, who wants ice cream?”

Complete silence answered me, so I shrugged and set the display for the news again, laid back, and waited for the fallout. If Ozpin wanted to play games, I could play games, too.