"So let me see if I've got this straight," Yang said, pinching the bridge of her nose as she attempted to process everything Abe had revealed to them, "Jaune has the ability to take the souls of people who died and fuse them into weapons to make them stronger?"
"Sort of," Abe stated. "It's more like the leftover spiritual residue from Aura. As such, Jaune can only do this trick with people who have had their Aura unlocked, such as Huntsmen or high-ranking White Fang operatives, as you've seen."
"That's very interesting," Pyrrha commented, a hand on her chin, looking conflicted. "But a little unsettling, too," she added.
"Indeed, the idea of Jaune being able to manipulate a person's soul energy in any way, even if it just leftover residue, makes him sound a bit like a demon," Ren admitted.
"Yeah, and if there's one thing Jaune definitely isn't, it's a monster!" Nora declared. Abe cringed.
"Um, about that..." But before he could say anything more, a singularity abruptly appeared in the center of his living room. Everyone stared at the dimensional rift as it pulsed and flashed, before it spat out three humanoid figures, then collapsed in on itself and vanished.
"Well, traveling through a wormhole was certainly a new experience," Ozpin commented, bracing himself on his cane to push himself up from the crouch he had landed in.
"You're telling me," a voice spurred behind him. "I think I have a concussion..."
"Oh, get up, Qrow," Ms. Goodwitch grumbled, as she sat up then used her Semblance to lift the drunk Huntsman off the ground and onto his feet. "You are not concussed, just hungover."
"Ah! Uncle Qrow!" Ruby squealed, bursting forward to throw herself onto her uncle, glomp onto him as hard as she could. "It's so great to see you! What are you doing here?"
"Ain't it obvious, kid?" Qrow said with a smirk. "Me and my two sidekicks are here to rescue you."
"Sidekicks, Qrow? Seriously?" Ms. Goodwitch shook her head. "I am at least your equal."
"I must say, I was expecting a more... exotic change in scenery, when we stepped through that wormhole," Ozpin confessed, taking in his surroundings. "Though I must say, this is a very nice house."
"Oh, uh, thank you," Abe said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.
"Ah, you must be the homeowner, then," the Headmaster deduced, nodding. "Thank you for looking after my students."
"Don't mention it."
"I suppose we will be leaving now?" Ren asked the teachers, causing Ozpin to clear his throat.
"About that," he says. "I am afraid we were so caught up in assuring you children were safe that we forgot to devise a way to return to our own reality..."
"Yeah, we're kinda stranded with you squirts until further notice," Qrow chuckled. Ms. Goodwitch pinched the bridge of her nose, before turning towards Abe.
"I apologize for all this trouble," she stated.
"Aw, I'm sure Abe won't mind a few more unexpected guests!" Nora said waving her hand. "When we crash landed in here, he just set us up in front of his TV, and started showing us cartoons!"
"Is that right?" Qrow grunted, pulling his flask off his belt to take a swig. "What kind of cartoons?"
"Cartoons about us!" Yang declared with a large grin, before holding up a finger to correct herself. "Well, technically, they're about our friend Jaune Arc, but still, that's kinda about us, right?"
"I mean, I'm in it too," Ruby pointed out.
"Cartoons about... us?" Ms. Goodwitch asked slowly, confused by the very concept. "How is that possible? If this is an alternate dimension, he should have no knowledge about us whatsoever."
"It's a bit of a long story," Pyrrha told the teacher, smiling gently. But since you're here with us now, you might as well join us, and see it for yourself." She turned to look at Abe. "Only if thats okay with you, of course..."
"No problem. That's what I'm here for," their host said with a shrug, before taking a look around the room. "I'm afraid I don't really have any more seats for you guys at the moment, though."
"Please, do not concern yourself about that," Ozpin assured him, deploying his cane which he promptly leaned upon, standing behind Weiss's recliner. "I am more than comfortable simply standing."
"Good for you, Oz, but I'm tired. I came straight from a mission for this, and wanna sit down," Qrow grumbled, eyeing the beanbag Ruby had returned to. "Make room, Pipsqueak," he told her, promptly flopping onto the cushioned seat, bouncing his niece lightly up into the air with a surprised laugh. Ms. Goodwitch, meanwhile, chose to sit down on one of the couch armrests, right next to Yang.
"I trust that this will not bother you, Ms. Xiao Long?"
"Nah, you're good, Ms. G," Yang assured her.
"Okay, is everybody comfortable?" Abe asked, looking around his living room to make sure his three new arrivals were settled in. "Okay, then. Let's get this show on the road!" He ejected the first disc that had been in his console, then inserted a new one, before moving to the episode selection screen. As soon as it came into view, he selected the first title at the top of the list, "Teammate Ties," and pushed play.
The episode opened to a scene of not Jaune, but instead Ruby pacing within the amphitheater the Omega Beowolf had resided within. The silver-eyed girl turned back towards the hallway leading to the elevator for the Headmaster's office, folding her arms across her chest and beginning to tap her foot impatiently.
"Come on! How long is this gonna take?" she demanded. "The White Fang already restored power to the rest of Beacon, so why is the elevator still out of service?"
"I'm sorry, what's that about the White Fang and Beacon?" Qrow grunted, sitting up in the beanbag to stare at the screen in bewilderment.
"Oh yeah, funny story," Nora called to the drunk Huntsman from his left. "In this reality, things went really bad during the upcoming Vytal Festival, and now it's five years later and Grimm overran Beacon and the White Fang are looking for the crown from that fairy tale about the king who couldn't make up his mind which is apparently exists and is hidden there. Crazy right?" she asked, oblivious to Ms. Goodwitch looking nervously off to the side behind her.
"Oh, most certainly," Ozpin commented, before coughing into his fist.
As Ruby continued to wait impatiently for power to the elevator to be restored, she heard the muffled shriek from the Wyvern echo overhead, followed by the signature sound of Grimm Liquid splattering against the ground outside. She turned back towards the entrance hall, in time to see a pack of Beowolves bounding into the amphitheater, a few Creeps burrowing into the ground behind them. The silver-eyed girl smiled as she reached behind herself, tossing her red cape up in the air as she pulled out Crescent Rose, unfolding the weapon into its iconic scythe-mode.
"You guys are just in time!" she called to the oncoming Grimm horde. "I was starting to get a little bored~"
"Well, we've seen how much Jaune's improved in five years," Yang declared, rubbing her hands together eagerly. "Now let's see how my little sister stacks up..."
The leading Beowolf snarled, then pounced forward, only to find itself diving through a flurry of rose petals. Ruby reappeared right above the wolf Grimm, twisting Crescent Rose into an upwards slice, cleaving the beast in half. She twirled through the air as she descended towards another pair of Beowolves, who rose onto their hind feet, their claws reaching out to catch her. The silver-eyed girl simply pulled herself upwards and twisted her body around, her scythe spinning in a circle and lopping off the wolf Grimm's heads as she landed on her feet. An instant later, she used Crescent Rose to launch into a cartwheel, narrowly avoiding a Creep as it burst out of the ground beneath her. As she landed, she jammed her scythe's blade into the ground, before taking the weapon's bolt firmly in hand pulling it back. A loud report echoed from Crescent Rose as a silver bullet blasted out of it, zooming into the Creep's open maw as it charged towards her, causing the Grimm's head to burst apart an instant later.
"Hmph. Impressive, Miss Rose," Ms. Goodwitch praised, allowing herself a faint smile. "If this reality is anything like our own, you will be a fine Huntress, someday."
"Heh. Praise? From Ms. Goodwitch? Consider yourself lucky, kid," Qrow chuckled, pulling Ruby close to ruffle her hair.
"Aw, shucks," the silver-eyed girl squeaked, her cheeks flushing pink.
Another pair of Beowolves bounded towards Ruby, but instead of pulling Crescent Rose free from the floor, she released her grip on the scythe to reach down for her belt instead, pulling a TMP from a holster. As the wolf Grimm closed in the silver-eyed girl opened fire with her submachine gun, the spray of bullets tearing through the Beowolves, which collapsed dead at her feet.
"Hey, it looks like you added to your arsenal a bit, Rubes!" Yang said with a grin.
"A wise decision," Ozpin stated. "It is always a good idea to have a backup weapon on you, just in case."
Ruby ejected the now empty magazine from her TMP, then dove forwards, just as another Creep burst from the ground behind her. She quickly holstered the submachine gun to dip a hand into her blouse, pulling out a pistol that she used to fire a round that pierced the Grimm's eye, causing the Creep to fall on its side and burst into smoke. A second later, the silver-eyed girl laid down to dodge a claw swipe from yet another Beowolf, before rolling onto her back and squeezing off another shot that tore through the beast's neck, causing it to slump forward and crumble to ashes.
"Small firearms really suit you, Ruby," Pyrrha said, admiring her friend's onscreen counterpart. "You've got the perfect build for putting them to use in close-quarters-combat."
"You think so?" Ruby asked, bringing a hand to her chin. "I mean, I guess I can see it, but I think I'd rather stick with my precious baby, instead..."
Ruby rolled away as third and final Creep emerged from the ground right next to her, and attempted to pounce upon her while she was still prone. The silver-eyed girl came up into a crouch, and fired three more bullets into the Grimm's flank, causing it to stumble and allowing her to take ahold of Crescent Rose to catch the Creep in the curve of her scythe's blade, which she used as a lever to hurl the beast into one of the distant walls of the amphitheater, where it promptly burst apart. However, there were still three more Beowolves in the room with her, which had managed to form a triangle around her, preparing to attack from any angle.
"Trying to gang up on me, huh? That won't work," Ruby told them, before her silver eyes began to glow.
At this, Ozpin's lips parted into a proud smile.
"So, you have discovered your true power in this world, have you? Well done, Miss Rose..." he whispered.
A brilliant flash of white light burst from Ruby's eyes, causing the trio of Beowolves to howl in pain and cover their own. This was the opening she needed, as she used her Semblance to quickly rush to each of the stunned wolf Grimm and hack through them with Crescent Rose, before returning to her original position, rose petal fluttering to the ground around her. The Beowolves quickly fell to the floor in pieces themselves, crumbling to ash on impact. Ruby smiled, and shifted her weapon back into its compacted form, which she returned to its sheathe behind her.
"Whoa! What was that?!" Nora demanded. "Ruby's eyes just totally went off like a flash grenade!"
"I do not know, though I seem to recall 'The Warrior in the Woods' featuring a silver-eyed woman who protected a town from Grimm..." Ren mused.
"Well, whatever it was, it'll definitely come in handy for me!" Ruby declared with a grin. "It's just too bad I can't do that myself," she said with a sigh, as Ozpin and Qrow did their best not to laugh.
As Ruby looked around the amphitheater, scanning for any other enemies, a loud ding echoed from behind her, causing her to turn around in time to see the elevator lights turn back on.
"Finally!" the silver-eyed girl cheered. "Now I can give that broody bull the butt-kicking he deserves!" And with that, she used her Semblance to speed over to the elevator, where she pulled out a keycard that read Jaune Arc.
Yang immediately burst out laughing.
"HAHAHA! Oh, that is rich!" she howled. "Ruby takes the only keycard to be found in the dorms, and it's Jaune's? I guess Vomit Boy really did leave his student-ID behind!"
"Yeah, that is pretty funny," Pyrrha admitted, bringing a hand to her mouth as she giggled.
Ruby swiped the keycard through the elevator control panel, causing its metal doors to slide open with another loud ding. She stepped into the small compartment, and folded her arms across her chest, before the doors slid back shut, signifying the beginning of her ascent up to Adam. A few seconds later, Jaune strolled into the amphitheater himself, where he stopped to look around at all the rose petals littered across the floor. The Huntsman whistled.
"Boy, Ruby sure got busy in here," he commented. "I feel bad for whoever or whatever her opponent was..."
"If you had been a minute earlier, you could've seen her in action, kid," Qrow grunted.
"Not to mention, the two of them could have headed up to face Adam together," Weiss pointed out.
"That would've been preferable," Blake said, a nervous expression spreading across her usually stoic face. "I think Ruby's going to be outmatched by herself..."
As Jaune made his way further into the room, he noticed the light above the closed elevator door was now back on, and shining with a soothing green light. The Huntsman smiled.
"Looks like power to the elevator has been fully restored," he stated, before his smile faded. "Which means Ruby is currently facing Adam on her own. I hope she knows what she's getting into..."
"Sheesh, have some faith in my sister, dude!" Yang shook her head in frustration. "She's tougher than she looks."
"Yes, but Ms. Xiao Long, this is Adam Taurus we are talking about," Ms. Goodwitch told the Blonde Brawler. "His name carries a lot of weight for a reason."
"It's not that Jaune's underestimating me, Yang," Ruby said. "I think he's just concerned for my well-being."
"There he is!"
"You're dead, Arc!" At the sound of voices behind him, Jaune whirled around to see another small squad of White Fang Grunts storm into the amphitheater, led by a red-hooded Sentry, who leveled his spear at the Huntsman.
"You will pay for what you've done to Fennec and Corsac, bastard!" the Sentry shouted.
"Oh yeah, I kinda forgot those two guys killed themselves last episode," Nora said, cringing slightly. "I guess the White Fang thinks Jaune did that..."
Jaune held up his hands, trying to deescalate the situation.
"You've got it all wrong!" he called to the Faunus. "I didn't kill the Albain Brothers, honest!"
"Oh yeah?" One of the Grunts pointed to the twin scimitars hanging from the Huntsman's belt. "Then why do you have their weapons?!" Jaune looked at the five masked faces staring at him, then sighed as he reached behind himself to draw said weapons, Corsac's blade in his left hand, Fennec's in his right.
"You wouldn't believe me anyway," the Huntsman grumbled.
"Oh well, at least we get to see how Jaune performs with his new weapons," Pyrrha said with a shrug.
"Indeed," Ozpin murmured. "Let me see how far you have come, Mr. Arc..."
"Kill him!" At the Sentry's command, two of the Grunts charged Jaune, attempting to catch him with their cutlasses. The Huntsman used his scimitars to block the attacks, then twirled the black blade to send a short wave of fire at one of his attackers, forcing them to back up. The other Grunt brought their cutlass up overhead, and swung it down on Jaune, who brought his scimitars up in an X-shape, intercepting the strike before it could connect. The Huntsman pried the weapons apart in opposite directions, ripping the cutlass from its owner's hands, before driving one of his legs forward into an Aura-infused thrust kick, sending the Faunus flying across the amphitheater to smash into one of the walls, where they slumped unconscious.
"Heh, not bad," Qrow chuckled. "Kid's definitely got his Aura techniques down."
"And he's got a lot of it," Pyrrha added. "Which means he can use them more often than other Huntsmen."
As the other Grunt came forward to attack again, Jaune ducked under their wild swipe, and spun his body into a sweep kick, knocking their feet out from under them. In the split second the Faunus was airborne, the Huntsman rose and smashed one of the scimitar's hilts into the center of their chest, sending them smashing hard onto the ground, where they curled up in pain. Satisfied, Jaune turned his attention towards the remaining three White Fang members, who had elected to hang back. One of the other two Grunts leveled an automatic rifle at the Huntsman, and opened fire.
"Oh, so that's how you want to play, huh?" Jaune sneered as he dove under the spray of bullets, before twirling the blue scimitar. "Then take this!" He lobbed the curved sword forward, which spun through the air to catch the Grunt in the neck with the unsharpened part of its blade, sending them to the ground as they clutched at their neck, before returning to the Huntsman's hand.
"Well, he certainly has a handle for those scimitars," Ms. Goodwitch said. "Did he switch his main use of weaponry?"
"No, he mainly sticks with Crocea Mors," Blake said. "I think he just trained how to use other weapons as well."
"Yeah, he's got an ice nunchaku, too," Yang said. "Those are pretty-"
"Don't," Ruby stated flatly.
The Sentry charged forward, trying to run Jaune through on their spear, but the Huntsman easily spun out of the way, then planted a kick in the small of their back, sending the Faunus stumbling away. The last remaining Grunt began to shoot at Jaune as he charged towards them, using the scimitars to deflect the bullets. The Huntsman twirled both blades and jammed them into the ground in front of himself as he drew close to the Faunus, causing a large blast of wind and fire to erupt beneath their feet. The Grunt flew up into the air, then fell back down in an unconscious heap. Jaune nodded, then turned his head in time to the Sentry coming at him a second time.
"Looks like it's just you and me," the Huntsman commented, swinging both scimitars into a pair of downward swings, forcing the Faunus to block. The Sentry growled, shoved the blades away, and pivoted into a sideways slash with their spear, causing Jaune to leap backwards to avoid being struck.
"I kinda forgot those red-hooded guys are better at fighting," Nora admitted. "Even if it isn't by much..."
With a little distance between them, the Sentry unholstered their pistol and fired off a couple shots at Jaune, who deflected them with the black scimitar. The Huntsman then twirled the cobalt blade and lobbed it forward a second time, causing it to strike the Faunus's firearm and knock it from their hands.
"Damn!" the Sentry swore, taking ahold of his spear in both hands again to charge Jaune a third time. The Huntsman held his hand, twirling both scimitars to excite the Dust in them, and as his attacker closed in, unleashed one quick swipe from each of the blades, the resulting blasts of fire and wind slicing through the spear's metal shaft like warm butter. As the Faunus looked down at their broken weapon in shock, Jaune slammed both of the scimitars' pommels into the sides of the Sentry's head, before jamming the blades into the ground to pull the Faunus face-first into his knee, sending them flopping onto their back, out cold.
"And that's that!" the Huntsman declared.
"Well done, Mr. Arc," Ozpin said, nodding in approval. "You have certainly come far in five years."
"He sure has!" Pyrrha nodded her head, a proud smile on her face.
With the White Fang accounted for, Jaune slid the scimitars back into their resting place behind his back, then turned his attention back towards the elevator, just in time to hear a soft ding echo from the doors.
"I suppose that means Ruby is facing off against Adam, now," the Huntsman realized. "Be careful, my dear..."
"Hey Blake?" Yang announced, sounding uncharacteristically nervous. "Be honest, how much of a chance does my sister realistically stand against Adam?" The cat Faunus was silent for a moment.
"She definitely has an advantage in speed and agility," Blake said finally. "But Adam is much stronger and more durable. Not to mention, he has about five years more combat training on all of us, meaning he has seven on Ruby. This fight could get ugly really fast..."
The scene changed to show the Headmaster's Office, where Adam was still standing in solitude, looking out at the expanse of ruin between Beacon Academy and Vale, as storm clouds gathered overhead. A soft ding echoed from behind him, causing the bull Faunus to turn around in time to see Ruby standing before him, Crescent Rose at the ready.
"Adam Taurus!" the silver-eyed woman called out to him. "Or should I call you the Brazen Bull? You have a lot to answer for!" Adam calmly regarded his challenger for a moment, then shook his head.
"This has nothing to do with you," the bull Faunus said flatly, turning away from her. "Stand down."
"Taurus offering mercy? That is a first," Ms. Goodwitch commented.
"Yeah, most poor saps that go after him don't come back in one piece, if they even come back at all," Qrow said with a grimace.
Ruby looked stunned for a moment, before her face hardened with anger.
"Nothing to do with me?! It has everything to do with me!" she shouted, before bursting forward in a flurry of rose petals, Crescent Rose arcing up towards Adam's neck. The bull Faunus merely turned around, swinging his scabbard out to knock her scythe aside, before bringing it back to strike Ruby across the cheek, sending her spinning away from him. The silver-eyed woman quickly recovered by jamming Crescent Rose into the floor, then unholstered her TMP, leveling it at Adam's chest, before squeezing down on the trigger.
"Jeez, Ruby, you're out for blood!" Nora stated, her eyes wide with surprise.
"I know, it's like I'm trying to kill Adam!" Ruby responded, looking rather aghast at the thought. "B-But I'd never do that, no matter how bad of a person he is!"
Adam shook his head as he unsheathed his katana, spinning it in front of him as he deflected the spray of bullets from Ruby's automatic, his sword little more than a circular blur. Finally, her TMP clicked empty, but the silver-eyed woman merely tossed her weapon aside, before prying Crescent Rose out of the ground and lobbing it at the bull Faunus. Adam sidestepped the attack, only for a burst of red to rush past him. The bull Faunus pivoted, bringing his sword up just in time to block Ruby's scythe as she drove it down upon him. The silver-eyed woman flipped over Adam, and swung Crescent Rose low, going for his legs. The bull Faunus leapt over the attack, then retaliated with a swipe from his katana, which Ruby blocked with her weapon's shaft. The two combatants struggled against each other, as the silver-eyed woman used both hands to hold Adam's sword at bay.
"Well, well. You've gotten stronger," the bull Faunus commented, taking ahold of his katana with both hands to start pushing her back. Gritting her teeth, Ruby rolled to the side, allowing Adam's sword to swipe harmlessly over her head, before whipping out her pistol.
"Go to hell!" she snapped, pointing the firearm right at his face.
"Man, he must've done something pretty bad to Ruby if she's okay with killing him," Yang hummed, before a horrid realization came to mind. "Wait, you don't think he-"
"No, he wouldn't have done that," Blake assured her partner. "Other Faunus may be happy to cross that line, but Adam put his foot down about that. He most likely killed someone close to her."
"Gee, I wonder who that could have been," Weiss said snidely, shaking her head as she folded her arms across her chest.
Adam held his sword up in front of his face, blocking the bullet Ruby fired at him, before his foot jerked upwards, kicking the gun out of her hand. The silver-eyed woman huffed, then grabbed ahold of Crescent Rose to swing it up towards the bull Faunus's chin, only for him to step backwards and avoid the attack. Undeterred, Ruby burst into a flurry of rose petals, which began to rapidly circle Adam, engulfing him in a red vortex. The bull Faunus did not look worried, however, simply planting his feet firmly on the ground, waiting for an attack to come at any angle. Finally, the vortex came to an end, as the silver-eyed woman rushed him from behind, her scythe swinging towards the back of Adam's head. The bull Faunus simply ducked, allowing the attack to sail over his head, then as Ruby rushed by, rose and shoved his foot into the small of her back, sending her sprawling.
"This isn't going very well for Ruby," Pyrrha muttered.
"I am afraid there is just too much of a skill gap between them," Ozpin said matter-of-factly. "Waiting for Jaune would have been the wiser decision."
"You have a family," Adam reminded Ruby, as he stood over her. "People who care about you very much. Are you really going to throw that away for some petty revenge?" The silver-eyed woman lifted her head to glare back at the bull Faunus.
"My friends are family, too," she told Adam heatedly. "And you took one away from me!" Her silver eyes let out another blinding flash, causing the bull Faunus to bring an arm up in front of his face to shield himself. When the light subsided, he looked around, but Ruby was nowhere to be found.
"You're talking about the Schnee, aren't you?" Adam said, beginning to slowly pace the floor. "You won't learn where we're keeping her if you kill me, Ruby," the bull Faunus pointed out, sounding quite calm despite the tension in the air. "That will make rescuing her very difficult."
"I guess you were right, Weiss," Nora hummed. "You really were the person Adam took from Ruby."
"Naturally," Weiss said with a sigh. "My family is the one the White Fang has a vendetta against, after all..."
Adam stopped directly in the middle of the tower, looking all around for any sign of Ruby. It was as though the silver-eyed woman had completely disappeared. Frowning slightly, the bull Faunus sheathed his katana, his legs bending slightly as he prepared himself.
"If she's even still alive, that is," Adam stated coolly. "She was when I left for Vale, but Sienna's been known to make decisions out of the blue. Last I remember, she was trying to decide whether or not to hang the Schnee, or burn her at the stake. We've hung a lot of human supremacists from trees or telephone poles over the years -payback for all our kinsmen lynched during the Faunus Rights Revolution, of course- but there is something poetic about killing someone with a snowflake motif via fire..." This statement was answered by a high-pitched shriek of fury, as Ruby suddenly burst up from the side of the tower she had been hanging from, her scythe raised up overhead as she soared into the air, before zooming down towards the bull Faunus, her silver eyes alight with anger.
"I'LL KILL YOU!!!" Ruby screamed.
"Holy shit!" Yang swore, alarmed by the amount of anger in her sister's voice.
"Ruby, no!" Blake called towards the screen. "He was baiting you!"
"This is not going to be good," Ren said through grit teeth.
The corner of Adam's mouth curled upwards as he turned to meet Ruby, his hair and the embroidery on his trench coat lighting up with a bloody red glow.
"Gotcha," the bull Faunus declared, unsheathing his sword as the silver-eyed woman closed in on him. Gasping, Ruby drove Crescent Rose in front of her, blocking Adam's sword with the shaft of her scythe. There was a flash of red, and then she was blasted away from the bull Faunus. Crescent Rose snapped apart in her hands, crumbling into rose petals that blew away in the breeze as the silver-eyed woman tumbled backwards, plummeting off the side of the tower towards the ground far below.
"NOOO!!! MY PRECIOUS BABY!" Ruby cried, burying her face in her hands as Qrow pat her shoulder in an awkward attempt to comfort her. "She was too beautiful for this bleak, blessed world..." she sobbed.
"Oh, Ruby, I'm so sorry!" Pyrrha said, her heart aching for the silver-eyed girl.
"The loss of a weapon is indeed unfortunate, but should you not be more concerned for your own well-being?" Ms. Goodwitch asked. "You just fell off the top of the Beacon Academy tower."
"Aw, Ruby can handle that," Yang told their teacher, waving her hand.
Adam watched as Ruby disappeared over the side of the tower, then shook his head, before returning his katana to its scabbard. Then the bull Faunus moved back over to the edge of the structure, staring back at the distant city on the horizon, once more in his silent solitude, as the episode ended.
"Boy, that one was a doozy," Nora said, doing her best to ignore Ruby's dramatic sobs. "Was that Adam's Semblance at the end there?"
"It was," Blake confirmed. "It is similar to Yang's, as it allows him to store up the energy unleashed upon him via attacks. However, instead of it gradually increasing his strength over time, he can unleash all of it back upon his opponent at once."
"Dang, that's a pretty sweet Semblance," Yang admitted, pursing her lips. "Some guys have all the luck, it seems."
"Well, that was rather entertaining," Ozpin said, smiling wryly as he glanced over at Abe. "This series of yours has a lot of potential, young man. I would be very interested to see more of it."
"Yeah, me too! Put on the next episode!" Ruby said, her silver eyes brimming with tears. "I need Jaune to avenge my poor baby!"
"It's just a weapon, kiddo," Qrow told his niece, only for her to crane her neck to look back at him, her mouth opening to launch into the spiel he had heard a hundred times by now. "Oh boy, here we go again..."
~GRIMM MAY CRY~
"...so basically, all the teachers that have any say in this place as gone, so we can do whatever we want for the foreseeable future!" Cardin told the mass of students he had gathered in the cafeteria, to which he was immediately met with a round of cheers. Jaune cheered too, although he still looked nervous.
"Now wait just a minute, young man!" Professor Port demanded, folding his arms across his chest. "I am the senior teacher at this academy, which means I am in charge in Ozpin's absence. Now all of you head back to your classes immediately!"
"Yeah, I don't think so, Teach," Coco said, giving Port an apologetic smile. "You just don't have the air of authority Ms. Goodwitch does." She took Velvet by the arm. "Come on, Velv, let's go shopping!" At her example, the rest of the students began to file out of the cafeteria as well, heading off to their own activities.
"Excuse me? Hey, I will not be ignored!" Port exclaimed, stamping his feet indignantly.
"Aw, put a sock in it, Professor Pork!" Cardin scoffed, as he wrapped his arms around Jaune. "You've been trying to get a girlfriend, right? Come on, I'll help you practice some pick-up lines." Port watched the students trail away in disbelief, before looking down at his rotund body, his mustache drooping.
"'Professor Pork?' He got me good..."