8-Bone Shatter

Beacon Academy for Hunters and Huntresses. The most prodigious and sought-after place of learning for any who want to gain their hunters' license. The requirements were numerous for such a place. You could not have been convicted of a crime in any country, you must have an average grade of 75% between your academic and combat scores, you must be of at least 19 years of age and be of sound enough mind to understand the risk this job presents to you, you must pass a psychiatric test and must be able to pass the written and physical tests before even being considered.

Jaune remembered all of these because the only way to skip the entrance tests was through recommendation, one he had managed to Forge with a staggering amount of difficulty. He was staring at the statue in the center of the gardens out in front of Beacon, he remembered standing where when he'd first arrived. Somewhere in the ghosts of his memory, he remembered hearing the dust explosion to his left, looking over to see a group of girls arguing on the first day and feeling his guts turn at the feeling of guilt from faking his way here, he was so nervous to talk to anyone, that they would see through him.

It felt strange to stand in front of the University, hearing the sounds instead of a great festival cascading in the distance, as per always he still held that sinking suspicion in his stomach that someone would see through him, that even now he was somehow lying his way to success. With all the eye's on him during the Vytal festival it was evident how much he didn't like people looking at him.

The Vytal Festival, a tournament that came at the halfway point of every school year, a test for each school to compete and see the promise of each school's students. However, Jaune knew it was really a dick-waving competition between the schools to vie for funding and applicants.

See a massive way these schools made money was the fee of admission, while some like Pyrrha Nikos got free admission for their talent and notoriety, other students like Cardin Winchester had to pay their way in. So the Festival was a way to try and get more students to apply to your school than others. If Atlas wins, even students who attend Haven may choose to change schools if they think they'll get better training at Atlas.

Of course, Jaune knew that this year was more of a tug-of-war between Ozpin and Ironwood, that he was the rope they were pulling.

Maidens… Magic, monsters, relics, Salem…

Jaune just shook his head, it was all insane, Ironwood had told him everything with the intention of having him use his Semblance to make the Maiden's stronger but he wasn't even sure that he could do it, and yet Ironwood was basing his claim on the maidens solely on the prospect Jaune could, and that somehow his team winning the festival meant he somehow had the credentials to perform such a task.

Still, even with the anxiety clinging to the back of his neck, he felt a fire boiling in his gut, the hairs on his arms stood on end because he was determined to prove he could do it. Ironwood believed Jaune was worth something, he had taken him in and now the General had asked one thing of him, to win.

So Jaune was going to win.

Turning his face to look up at the statue of a past hero, he always thought it looked a little too much like Ozpin, it was clear the man in his clockwork tower thought highly enough of himself to make a statue of his past life. He was going to win, for his team, the General, everyone at Atlas.

But mostly for himself.

A stone being kicked down the path behind him stole his attention, his long blonde hair had to be brushed out of his face, revealing the vibrant greens of Beacon's trees, lush grass and immaculate stonework, scarred only by the marring of shoes.

His eyes focused on the person quizzically approaching him, short cut black hair billowing in the everpresent breeze coming off the waterfront not unpresent from the horizon past the city below the academy. The girl was wearing tight short shorts and a drop top that compressed and ate into her already small, tight body. Beacon's tracksuit, worn by someone he tried to place the face of, it felt like years since he'd seen most of these people, until it came back to him in a rush. Ruby Rose, leader of team RWBY. His brow furrowed at first, eyes lingering on her petite frame with the outline of her absurdly large weapon strapped over her back, crescent rose, if he remembered correctly.

"Ruby?"

She stopped and realized probably for the first time that someone was in front of her. She looked out of breath, weapon in her hands and a backpack full of gear with most present of all an expression of exhaustion worn with such bilegerment he thought she might keel over right there.

"Jaune? Whatt'are you doing here?" Her voice perked up when she dropped the back of gear into the ground in a huff, letting Crescent rose slump down and it's head clatter against the paved cobble.

He didn't know how to answer that, he had just wanted to be with his thoughts and had gone for a walk. "Mostly just trying to collect my thoughts, do some planning, I suppose."

Ruby stood there, her teeth found her lip and she looked like she had something to say as her eyes darted down towards the ground, her hands coming together in front of her. "Oh, well that's neat, doing some good thinkin'?"

A little mirth coiled up his throat, a small laugh echoing in the hollow of his mouth. "Yeah, A little thinking. How about you, out for a run?"

Ruby just let out the most exasperated sigh, Jaune was distantly reminded of the time he told Amber to eat the rest of her meal before getting icecream. To which before you ask, yes, Amber did in fact steal the entire tub of icecream and she instead hid her plate under a rug. Ruby plumped her behind on a nearby bench, leaning back against it's cool surface, "Everyone has been training so hard since you guys beat us. Yang is just constantly at the Gym and Weiss hasn't left the library."

Jaune felt a little red creep into his cheeks remembering how the girls had talked him into fucking in front of Weiss and Pyrrha as they peeped at them from the door. It was something he cringed about inwardly but tried not to let show on the outside. "Well if it's any consolation, you guys did really well."

Ruby scoffed and sunk more into the iron bench "You wiped the floor with us, Jaune, how did you get so strong? You were such a noodle when you were at Beacon!"

Honestly, Jaune should have probably felt insulted by that but he felt his lips curl up into a smile, it was the pure innocent playful outrage that Ruby had which just tickled him pink. "You know? You're right, I was a noodle, how did you guys put up with me?"

She smiled along with him, starting to chuckle to his melodic tune. "Eh, you had your moments, it was really cool the way you fell out of trees."

"Aw shucks." Jaune just shot her a wink, crossing the threshold of pleasant distance and sitting down next to her. "You know, that's how they admitted me to Atlas, they needed a specialist in falling, and baby, I'm the best there ever was."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Sure, I'm glad it's working out of you." There was a pause and she sat more upright, looking a little unsure of herself, that unwillingness to bring something up boiling just under the surface. "I'm glad it- Atlas- is good for you, it really looks like you're doing great there."

Foot tapping against the stone, Jaune put his elbows on the rest behind his back, looking up at the clouds floating carefree above their heads. "I- Yeah, I have to admit it's hard to picture my life without it, I'd probably still be a noodle here, wouldn't I? Plus my team, they're amazing, I wouldn't trade them for anything."

"They seem great, really strong! All-" Ruby's cheeks flushed and Jaune was reminded of the phone call he'd only heard about in post, gods that was embarrassing, team RWBY had seen him naked all because they called at the wrong time. "Well, they're uh, they seem friendly, very o-open."

"I-I'm uh sorry about them, by the way, When I first met them I wasn't in a good place, after leaving here. They helped me through it but they only ever saw what getting expelled did to me, they never got to meet you guys." Jaune tried to explain, hand coming to the back of his head and running the buds of his fingertips against the soft skin of his nape.

"No! I totally understand, I mean if like that happened to Yang I'd be furious!" Ruby assured him that she completely understood, obviously trying to make peace and try to keep things civil.

"Honestly though, I don't hold any hard feelings, you guys did the right thing."

"I'm just so-" Ruby paused mid apology. "Huh?"

"I wouldn't have gone to Atlas if I stayed." Jaune shrugged, leaning away before getting back up to his feet, offering a hand to help the smaller girl to her feet. "So, in a way, I owe you guys."

"Somehow that doesn't feel right." Ruby took his hand and hopped back up to her feet, swinging her weapon onto her back and falling in line beside him as he started to walk down the path. "But, like, I'm not going to argue with it. It's still good to see you happy, I guess Atlas was good for you?"

Jaune shrugged and rolled his neck so that he could crack his neck. "It's been amazing, It's cold, sure, but all of the students and staff have this sense of duty to them. It's inspiring honestly, to have such a high expectation and realize you can meet it."

When Ruby made a face at that he couldn't help but smile. "I suppose it's not entirely different than Beacon, but I fired more guns than I've been fired off platforms at Atlas."

"Okay fine, but that sounds so boring!" Ruby groaned, putting her hands on her hips and making an adorable little pout. "I happen to like being launched off of catapults."

"Huh, well I suppose if it works for you."

"But it's not! Gah! It's so frustrating, and Weiss is put out over it like crazy! What do you do when your team gets down over a loss." Ruby just ruffled her own hair and slouched back, defeated by her own exhaustion.

Jaune remembered the last time Amber failed a test, all she needed was to walk around the park. He wished that wasn't a sex thing, but it was. There was a leash and spiked collar involved. His cheeks turned red at the memory. "Going for walks helps?"

Ruby didn't seem to enjoy that answer. "I'm already going for walks! You guys were just so much stronger than us! It's insane watching all these visiting students fight. Cinder, Mercury, Penny, Sun- It's like an entirely different world than the students at Beacon."

"To be fair we did a lot of planning for how to fight you guys before the match, how did you guys prepare for the fight?"

Her face turned a little pink, avoiding his gaze while she turned her head away. "Well, there was this train… an…" She sighed. "I think Weiss said something like 'It's Jaune, what do we have to worry about?' and Yang went to go drinking the night before."

"See, you guys underestimated us."

"Okay, but like, even once we realized how bad things were, you still beat us. Like your team was just so much stronger than us!"

Jaune put his hand on Ruby's shoulder, there was a present realization of exactly how much larger he was than her. She was on the smaller end of maybe 5'2 to 5'4 and Jaune was a little over six foot. His hand covered her entire shoulder, he'd never really realized how big he was until this moment. He was sure when he left Beacon that Ruby was only, like, a few inches shorter than him.

"You wanna know the truth? None of you have a fighting style, all of your moves are flashy sure, but they're wild and inaccurate. The closest is Weiss but she needs us to know about her glyphs, once you learn how they work, they're useless. Blake is even good at fighting, she's a stealth based sneak attack type, and since we know where she is, she's useless. Yang just punches wildly and we have tons of training in hand to hand combat to beat people like her."

Ruby's mouth was hung open, hearing exactly the flaws in their combat style. She wanted to argue, point out that Blake used her semblance to dodge attacks, Weiss was plenty skilled in combat.

Well... Weiss had literally never won a solo fight.

And Blake used her semblance to run away… she ran away a lot.

"I don't mean to be cruel here either, but you're flashy and can come up with some really good plans, but besides your speed giving you an advantage, you're really not made for close combat. If I disarmed you it was game over."

She shrugged off the hand on her shoulder, looking at Jaune with a mix of confusion and indignation. She wanted to argue that she was capable as a fighter and that she was a good huntress but Jaune already had his hands up.

"Hey, You guys are still good huntresses. You just need guidance. I had Winter and Clover train us relentlessly, two of the best hunters in all of Remnant were our sparring partners. You guys don't really get that here." He tried to come off as understanding and hoped it didn't sound like condescension. "I mean, have you guys ever lost before? Have you really never fought against someone or something stronger than you, needed to grow to overcome an adversary?"

Ruby opened her mouth to shout, but then closed it. He was right, though, wasn't he? Roman hardly counted, the small-time Grimm they'd faced were hardly a real threat and even the bigger Grimm like the nevermore were defeated easily even if they were a threat.

"So you just had us beat from the start? There was no competition?" Ruby felt so defeated saying it like that.

"On the contrary." Jaune turned more to face her, heel turned so that he wasn't looking at her side on anymore. "You guys were a real challenge, it was just outside of the ring not in it. I mean did you guys plan before our fight?"

Ruby looked down at the ground, kicking a stone and refusing to make eye contact. "I mean…. You guys do a lot of planning huh?"

"We had to." He shrugged, "You guys are really strong, even if you need a lot more training, it's the same thing with Pyrrha's team. We need to be on our toes."

"But you guys are so strong!" She protested with vigour.

"Damn right we are!" The sing-song tone of Harpy's voice carried over the courtyard, her eagle eyes staring daggers at Jaune who instantly broke into a cold sweat. "Hey Jaune, who's the red-headed toddler talking to you?"

"Uh- Harpy she's-"

"RUBY!" Penny Polendina rushed forward from behind Harpy to grab the petite redhead in a hug and lift her off the ground with ease. "Oh, it has been so long! You are looking well, I am so glad to see you again, friend Ruby!"

"HI! Pe-penny!" Ruby groaned, finally being let onto the ground with a cute little yelp.

"Ah! Two of my good, good friends are getting along?! Jaune I thought you hated everyone from Beacon!" Penny's face was aghast looking from him to Ruby before realizing she had said that out loud. "I mean! Not everyone, of course, just- uh."

Ruby just put her hand on Penny's shoulder, mostly to catch her breath, clutching her chest like she cracked a rib from the metal girl's bear hug. "Penny, it's fine, we had a good talk about it."

"Pfft just because he forgave you doesn't mean I do." Harpy scoffed and raised her finger to Ruby the bird.

Fingers curled over Harpy's hand as he took a step towards her, making the normally punk girl cower away even so slightly. Honestly it was surprising to see her like that, almost meek and embarrassed when Jaunee gave her a disapproving look.

Then his face turned back towards Ruby. "Sorry, I got carried away and was rude to you, and my partner here was even more so."

Harpy looked like she was going to say something Snarky but obviously thought better of it and shut her mouth tight, setting her jaw and tightening her hands into fists. Ruby on the other hand just smiled and waved her hands like it was nothing, red peeking over her cheeks. "No! Oh my gods, no, I asked about it and you gave me an answer, I-I'm not sure I agree, we've faced plenty of hardships, we've gone through a lot." She chewed her lip. "But I don't think we ever looked at it like that, as a need for us to improve, as a sign we needed to get better."

Everyone was looking at her now, looking at the earnest, self reflective, wise young woman she was. The youngest team captain in Beacon history, Ruby Rose.

"It was hard for us too." Harpy was the first to speak up. "When Clover handed me my ass after acting up in class. When a Grimm knocked away my weapon and I only made it out because my partner was there to help me…" Harpy just looked forlorn, staring off in the distance before her vision turned back to the black haired girl. "Honestly, it was one of the things that took me the longest to finally get through my head, you don't get better unless you're actively trying to be better."

Ruby just stared, like she was looking at a completely different person.

"It's a shame, I'd love to just get better by sitting on my ass." Jaune just shrugged, leaning on Penny who seemed to be extremely lost in the conversation.

"Oh shut up, you're the one who kept saying it over and over again." Harpy just elbows him in the side, which got him to stop leaning on Penny and go on the defensive against her hands trying to grab at his ticklish midriff. "Like some annoying, youth pastor asshole."

Ruby couldn't help but smile, loving the sight of Jaune and Harpy play-fighting, Jaune grabbing onto oher wrists and trying to keep her from grabbing his waist. Though it was Penny who spoke up "You two are so cute!"

To which Harpy, realizing she was being cute in public, quickly pulled away with a huff and a red smear across her cheeks.

Jaune just smiled and pulled her into a side hug, their hips bumping together. "So what brings you and Penny out this way?"

Pushing off of her boyfriend the pink haired punk shifted her hips from one side to the other with the thigh hugging jeans that showed off the hug of her round, perfect butt. "We were going to report to Ironwood, Penny has some projects, shit, or something."

"I must give him my estimates for how I think the next round will progress!" Penny's chipper expression never faded and her frame kept ever-close to Ruby. "Oh, Ruby perhaps we should train together after I am finished with Mr. Ironwood!"

Ruby hefted up her scythe and looked eager for the opportunity, she knew how strong Penny was and clearly loved the idea of stopping this condition training and doing something more interesting. "Penny, that sounds-"

"Is that a bolt action browning-make 50 caliber anti material rifle with composite weave with collapsible barrel and stock? That has to be a Barrett m82 semi-atuo 12.7 by 99mm Schnee standard dust cartridge for the base right?" Harpy's mouth was just hung open, eyes glimmering when she looked over the red scythe weapon Ruby was carrying. "You modified it with a curved blade, is that damascus steel? Why did you pick something so heavy?!"

Penny and Jaune just looked at each other, Jaune made a face like he wasn't sure what any of those words meant, Penny just shrugged.

Ruby on the other hand, eye's flickered off to the side, trying to find something to look at that wasn't Harpy. "N-no, I mean, Yes! But I actually removed the recoil compensator and actually made the barrel larger for handmade cartridges."

Hands grabbed onto Ruby's shoulders when she was finished talking, Harpy practically drooling at the design work. "You did this yourself?! I thought you were so plain and kinda stupid but you actually have a talent, that's crazy!"

Ruby blinked. "Thanks?"

"You're welcome!" when Harpy activated the mechanism that made Crescent Rose extend she just whistled at the make and design of it. "Fuck, All you Beacon kids have such boring weapons, no flare or design, but this is a beautiful thicc bitch, you know that?"

"I…" Ruby looked over at Jaune, who just put his hands up like he couldn't help her. "I… Thank you?" She repeated.

"Why not make the blade lighter? It would be easier to move." She made it sound obvious.

"My fighting style I learned from my Uncle, he uses a scythe and told me that it was one of the deadliest weapons but you had to work around the weapon, not for it." Harpy just nodded and waved her hand when Ruby spoke, she already knew all that. "So because I can't move the scythe, I figured it was better to have the scythe move for me, or move around it. So I use the recoil from the rifle and the weight of the blade to move even easier around the battle."

"That's genius!" Even Jaune was surprised by the genuine compliment from Harpy who took out her own collapsible bo-staff. "My semblance gives me better reaction time, so I have a distance weapon that keeps people at bay, letting my semblance do the work for me. Have you thought about adding a different dust cartridge for different canisters? Being able to switch between explosive, incendiary or freezing rounds in the middle of combat without needing to remove the cartridge would make you much faster."

Ruby's face lit up, eagerly nodding. "I was also thinking about adding a rotating head for the blade, so that way I could change the direction mid swing!"

"That would just mess with the flow of your combat, you're better just using your semblance to move faster and redirect through action. It will take more energy but the half second you save could be life or death." Harpy waved her hand in front of her face and then brought up something about metal weaves and grip strength.

Both of them completely ignoring the fact that Penny and Jaune were already walking away slowly, leaving the two gun nuts to talk shop and work on their overturned weapons. Penny just shrugged. "My swords are simple, gun sword, no weird bits."

"I don't even really fight anymore, I stopped bringing a sword with me unless it's specifically for combat practice." Jaune agreed, both of them bonding over their shared interest in the simplicity of just a good blade.

"I should be going, Mr. Ironwood will be cross with me if I take too long." Penny apologised, but Jaune just waved his hand, letting her go and letting her know he didn't have any hard feelings, He himself heading towards the cafeteria.

Leaving Penny to happily skip down the hallways, her feeting leaving the ground with every prancing footprint though the happy halls of Beacon. She hummed a tune, long slow beats in a melody that was perfectly on key.

She stepped with a delicate weightlessness that carried from one prance to the next, her hair didn't bob from the movement, her body didn't shift at all actually. There was no fat on her cheeks to bounce, in fact it was one of the things she constantly wished they would change. She was a robot, metal skin with only the most vague sensors for pain or pleasure.

She could feel pain, touch, sensations, but there was no give or softness to her body.

Penny just wanted to run her fingers through her hair but her hair was sectioned pieces to mimic hair but didn't actually feel like such.

Sure it fooled the eye, but she wanted to touch it herself.

There was the sound of shouting ahead, her ears picking it up down the echoing corridors of Beacon's halls. Penny's footsteps halted to a pattering stutter, until she was slowly moving towards the sound with her ear up towards the sound trying to pick out the voices.

Was that... her dad?

He sounded angry, she made a face knowing that her father being upset wasn't an uncommon occurrence but that this kind of yelling wasn't him being upset with one of her scientist subordinates, but instead an anger that formed a pit in her stomach.

"Damn it Ironwood!" Penny strode up to one of the meeting rooms normally meant for teachers but had been repurposed for use of Atlas staff and personnel, mostly to meet with their contestants but some were used for a secret project not even her father knew about. Penny pressed her face against the door, listening intently to the conversation inside. "I never agreed to this, you take her out of this sham of blood sport this instant!"

Watts was roaring in defiance, behind him Pale's sister, Deserie, was looking over graphs and trying to keep her head down. Across from him, James Ironwood stood with a calm and indifferent look on his face, staring down the fuming Athur watts without giving the man an inch, to his left, Winter Schnee and at the back of the room, relaxing and playing a game on his scroll the captain of the Ace-ops, Clover.

"I understand your frustration, but the vytal festival is not a blood sport. It's a friendly competition between the kingdoms, there are never any serious injuries." Ironwood's tone was level and calm, explaining his point even though he knew very well Watts was aware of this.

"A 'friendly compilation' you're using the market my daughter as a warmachine!" His finger came up aggressively close to Ironwood's face, teeth gritted. "I still can't believe Peitro allowed any of this!"

"Miss Polendina is free to compete like any other student of Atlas academy, you're the one who wanted me to enroll her for proper schooling." Ironwood reasoned as an olive branch, trying to calm the situation with a nice smile. "Please Dr. Watts, we can at least agree on letting Miss Polendina express herself in whatever way she sees fit."

Watts turned away with a huff, his shoulders were raised, his fists clenched while Ironwood stood without moting even a breaths one direction or the other. Watts put his hands on the wooden desk that Deserie was working on, one coming up to rub the bridge of his nose.

"She's just a little girl, Ironwood, she doesn't understand that you're using her. She's never been tricked by humans, she doesn't understand the evils of military and war."

"Ironwood isn't using her." Miss Schnee stepped forward with an aggressive note in her voice. "And need I remind you that YOU are part of the military, Watts? That we're fighting against an endless horde of monsters? We're trying to save lives."

"Justify your own abuse however you wish, girl." Watts turned his head with a sinister glare that spoke of violence and venom. "I'm a scientist, I have no side besides the progress of human knowledge. You, all of you are greedy little mites, blood suckers ready to dig into any machine I put in front of you."

"Watts, I understand you're angry, but you're speaking to your superior officer!" Clover spoke up, trying to bring reason and order to the conversation.

"No, let him speak, captain." Ironwood put up his hand to stop Clover from intervening. "A wise man seeks counsel of his desenters." He looked over his shoulder to make eye contact with Clover. "Lest we fall prey to the weakness they see and we cannot." Then his attention back to Watts. "If you have grievances, please, I want to hear them, perhaps we can come to a compromise that makes us both happy?"

"I won't be happy unless you-" His voice rose back to that brittle, primal anger deep in his gut. "Take my daughter out of this fucking idiacy!" His breaths came heavy, calming his voice with each breath. "You parade her around like some marvel of modern machinery but she's a girl Ironwood! A person! Not some Piece of your fucking chess board!"

"I'm not using Penny for anything, she made this decision."

"Did she?! So you're not presenting her as a prototype for sale!?" His accusation made the General tighten his jaw, standing just a little tighter, it made everyone in the room immediately realize that Watts struck a nerve, he was telling the truth. "Exactly. You're already making deals with the other kingdoms, military groups, hunter guilds. Hell, I bet you even have black market dealers looking to take her blueprints and use them all across the front-lines."

Ironwood finally moved, stepping to the side and looking at the projections for the tournament that Penny had already given him, the ones for round 1. She was 100% accurate in each projection. Not only that but her own battle had exceeded even Watt's own estimates for her combat effectiveness. "As per our agreement, you would be allowed to create a prototype intelligent droid working with Mr. Polindina and with his semblance give her an aura. I knew you two wanted a daughter and I knew that this program could make that happen."

Ironwood chose his words carefully. So easily this could be blackmail or leverage that he used over Watts to show how he was indebted to him. Instead Ironwood wanted it to sound kind, and wanted to remind Watts that Ironwood was on his side, that he was here to help them. "Your program was chosen out of hundreds to create a new line of soldiers because I believed in the drive and team you had put together. Because I knew your goal wasn't the paycheck at the end of the tunnel."

He placed his hands farther apart on the table and looked towards Winter, almost like he was asking for assurance but continued before he got any. "But the money that we spent getting Miss Polidina up and running didn't just come out of nowhere, I have to show that these projects have results."

"So I'm sure showing her off in front of a hundred thousand eyes during the biggest sporting event of the year just happened to be a cherry on top, hm?"

Watts got closer, turning towards Ironwood and leaning over the table, so that his hands pressed against the same plastic, he glared, eyes drilling holes into the Generals skull.

"By all means I'm sure there isn't a single military contractor who's already asking about our military robots, hm? All those parades about the new soldier models are just for fun, right? You're a monster, using the education of children to sell weapons." Watts just spat the words, his face contorting into a grimace.

"Arthur!" Winter stepped in this time, she couldn't just stand by, but was met with a finger jabbed in her face, Watts not even looking at her but holding up a finger to keep her at bay. She swatted it without hesitation. "You're out of line, you're lucky we even brought you along, this is a Military expedition not a scientific lab experiment."

Turning his head with malicious intent, it looked like Watts was about to turn the fury of his daughter against her, instead he closed it, it seemed like something clicked for him. His eyes drifted to Deserie.

"Then why is she here?" He asked all too calmly.

"Hmm?" Ironwood asked, turning his head to follow his gaze.

"If this is a purely military expedition, why would you have a technology of aura experty with you?" His words carried some thoughtfulness that made it sound like he was connecting dots in his head.

When his eyes drifted from Winter to Clover for answers instead he found questions, lingering behind the indignation and annoyance of his outbursts, they realized that little detail didn't add up either.

"I'm here because I'm the one who made Penny's batteries, if she gets hurt I need to repair her." Her voice was matter of fact and stable.

Arthur looked unpleased with that answer.

It wasn't the answer itself that was displeasing, there was a long pause that made him start to question it. Why did Clover and Winter not know why Doctor Pale was here? Why did Ironwood not speak up, why if the answer was so simple, did no one answer him immediately?

"Regardless of your or Dr. Pale's presence here, I cannot remove Miss Polindina from the competition without her asking me to, or if I believe it is a danger to her health." Ironwood explained, he stood up again taking some stance of authority again. "Watts, I need you to understand, my motives will always be the protection of life, right now the robots you and Peitro made save hundreds of lives every month."

His hand came up and covered his mouth, dragging the texture of the glove over his chin. "Look at these numbers, look at Penny's combat scores." Watts didn't need to, he just scowled at Ironwood. "She is worth twenty soldiers, without the risk of lost life."

"She's a fucking little girl, Ironwood…"

"Who can't die, we can rebuild her from any damage." Ironwood countered. "A little girl who's stronger than most full trained hunters, who had all the muscle memory and programming to put her at an Ace-ops qualification level huntress."

He motioned over to Clover who just looked like he agreed with that sentiment.

"She's an innocent girl, Ironwood! She never had the chance to decide to be something else, she may be just your weapon but she's my daughter, I don't want her to just be a gun on puppet strings to get torn to shreds over and over again against the Grimm." this time his fingers coiled around the collar of his shirt, pulling him forward and down so that Watts could stare him in the eye.

Ironwood didn't even flinch, eyes glaring down at the scientist. "There are no innocence in war, Watts. There never have been but now more than ever, do you think the Grimm cares if she's a little girl?"

The words sunk in and Watts let his guard down, that anger slipping away with his grip loosening.

"The Grimm kill children as well as soldiers, robots, machines, pets, the elderly." With a gravity in his voice he didn't break eye contact with Watts, instead grabbing onto his wrist and holding his hand still over the General's collar. "They don't stop when you scream in pain and bullets only slow them down, with Grimm it is kill or be killed." A pause. "And now your little girl, Penny, can fight without that risk, others like her will be able to fight through exhaustion, won't need food, sleep, water. They can repair their injuries instantly instead of over months. If they lose an arm we can just put it back and it's like nothing even happened." "

Watt's eyes drifted to the metal peaking

"You'd rather I pull her from production, cancel her place in the tournament? Lose the funding that Made Penny possible? Never Improve on the model, or send in untested prototypes next to men and women on the front lines?"

Watts looked at him aghast, his face was torn of all fight, only pure indignant anger still grimacing on his features. "I… I- she-"

Ironwood let his grip loosen, eyes looking a little red at the edges. He was sympathetic, almost kind. He didn't want to be needlessly cruel to his friend. "I understand, Watts. Penny is in no danger, The vytal festival is safe and like we promised, she won't be on the front lines, this is just an excuse to get more data so we can make a better model down the road."

Watts just pushed Ironwood's hands away. Growling with indignation and turning his head away. "Of course, General." He spat with venom. "As you command."

He turned away and checked his shoulder at Ironwood's hand, storming away from the room in a huff.

This of course left Ironwood with this guard in the room. Penny hid as one of her fathers stormed down the hallways away from her. She didn't need to breathe and just move behind the door when it swung open.

Ironwood's voice rang out in the silent din. "Was that the right thing to do?"

There was another silence.

"Sir. I hate to say it but I don't think there was a 'good' option." Clover offered with a sigh that felt years older than his lungs truly were.

"He's just protective, I suppose I would be too in his circumstances." Winter tried to offer, unsure of herself on the topic. "But I think you did all you could, it's up to him to come to terms with your decision."

"I think you made the right decision." Penny's voice came from the hallway, making every one of the adults look over at her.

"You… Heard all of that, didn't you?" Winter asked, she sounded sad, like she was horrified the robotic girl had heard any of it. When Penny nodded, Winter just looked upset, covering her mouth and turning away.

"Miss Polindina." Ironwood started to walk towards her, tilting his head to the side as he got down onto one knee to look her in the eye. "I'm sorry you had to hear that, I know… I know we haven't really spoken about your purpose when the military funded the project to make you. We've tried our hardest to let you live as a normal girl."

Penny thought about that for a long while, looking down at the ground then looking Ironwood in the eyes, very sure of herself.

"But, sir, I'm not a normal girl. Am I?"

James stared at her, his eyes widened only a fraction before he tried to compose himself. His mouth opened for a second before he found the words to speak. "No, I suppose not."

Penny didn't seem to react, she looked past Ironwood, "And I can save lives if they make more of me?"

"If we can show the kingdoms that we have an alternative to putting human lives in danger… and we can make robots like you, that can produce their own aura…. Then yes." Ironwood had a grim gravel to his tone, he couldn't meet her eyes, even when he looked at her, there were so many 'Ifs' and 'buts' in this plan. Maybe Watts was right.

"What happens if I can't do that?" Penny looked down at the space between them, at Ironwood's hand on her shoulder and travelled with her eyes along his sleeve back to his core.

Ironwood finally met her gaze, an easy answer, finally. "Then we try something new. No option we have is ever the only one, but no matter what you're still a student at Atlas, Peitro and Arthur are still your parents."

Her brow furrowed, eyes drifting away from him. "But, I was made-"

"You were made because your parents wanted to bring a wonderful young woman into this world." Ironwood's smile was evident in the inflection of each syllable. "No Military reasoning can take that miracle away."

"But I'm not a real girl."

"Just because you are metal, does not mean you aren't a real girl." Ironwood used his other hand to pull back the sleeve of his metal arm. Letting the light glint off it's white and blue sheen.

Penny's fingers touched the edge of his arm, no give, it felt like metal. She couldn't suppress a smile peaking at the corners of her cheeks, cute little dimples forming on her cheeks. "Thank you, Sir."

"Good, Soldier, now I hope you have a report and projection for me?" Ironwood stood up and cleared his throat, looking back at the red of the room who all had their own obvious opinion of the conversation.

Winter looked head of heels pleased, her cheeks a little pink as she beamed with pride at her General. Clover just looked amused, interested but happy with the outcome. Deserie just seemed disinterested, more like impatient, she was waiting for numbers, metrics, science shit.

Clover just patted his legs and stood up. "Well, I'm going to go check on the other contestants, I'm sure Harpy and Amber could use a pep talk too."

When he moved to step past Penny he gave her a sly little wink and a thumbs up. Easily slipping out while Penny started her report on how she thought the next round of the tournament would go.

Clover didn't really have far to go, he tapped the rod that extended into his fishing rod against the walls of Beacon whistling that same tune Penny had been, though his was monroe off-key, only a few notes misplaced, but it was nice, pleasant sounding along with the rhythm of his boots.

Which of course was more luck than skill with it came to how good at this he was.

He wondered if Amber would want to spar again, the hairs on the back of his neck starting to stand on end while his shoulder got an ache in it. Maybe he could fake being sick?

If Amber wasn't in the room or with Jaune it was honestly hard to pin her down. Clover might have been one of the best hunters in all of Remnant, he didn't mind saying it, it might have sounded like boasting but he needed to be that good. Being the leader of the ace ops meant he -had- to be better. With that said even he had a hard time keeping track of Amber, she just wandered off some times and would show up days later.

He maintained the same demeanor as the rest of her team when it came to her disappearances; if she got into trouble, pity the damn fool who thought she was an easy target.

On the topic of greatest hunters it was honestly a toss up of who actually was the strongest. Since there was no competition for practicing hunters, no one could really say. There was a hunter-esk gladiator competition, a few of them, but that was for athletes, not practicing hunters.

Meanwhile one could determine skill by perhaps the number and class of Grimm they've dispatched. However that never held weight because hunters like Winter and Ironwood were two of the single greatest combatants he'd ever met but almost never saw work on the battlefield unless absolutely necessary.

Then there were kids like Marrow and Pyrrha, prodigies with more skill than their entire class combined but almost never saw real combat against Grimm.

The only person who was undisputed as the greatest Hunter or Huntress was the Grimreaper, she was a Haven huntress who was undefeated by any grimm or hunter alike. She'd been missing for a decade now though, and no one even knew who she was let alone why she disappeared when she did.

Well hopefully Clover had better luck finding Amber than he did finding the Grimreaper, and his first place to look was the Gym.

Pushing open the doors he didn't find a skull-faced scythe woman, instead he luckily found the golden haired wolf girl deadlifting more weight than seemed reasonable for such a small girl. The bar over her head bending and the person spotting for her panicking the idea of needing to lift it.

Just from looking at it he had to imagine it was like he was sitting on either end of that bar, yet she was lowering it down to her chest with only the most minor of shake to her biceps. She was probably seeing how much she could lift for fun, Clover was used to watching her lift significantly less during her training sessions.

"Having fun Miss Gold?" He called out, hoping she could hear him over the music blaring in her earbuds.

Her ears twitched which must have meant she heard him. Her eyes flickered over to the rabbit faunus that was spotting her and nodded, putting the bar on it's rests without much effort and standing with a groan and a flex. Amber wore practically nothing, which it seemed like she was more comfortable in. She only ever wore that sweater and skimpy jeans when she wasn't forced to wear her academy uniform. Clover averted his gaze, he wasn't a prude or anything, but it was weird to look at a student wearing so little.

She was wearing a sports bra that didn't cover her midriff and it was obvious from the rips along it that she had clawed at the edges to make it breathe more. Then her short-short jeans remained even though it was clear she had under armour just below the surface. Fur covered her long ears and fluffy tail, coiling up her calves and up her forearms. She shook and sent drops of sweat flying. "Mac-Daddy, lucky clover, what's crackin'?"

"Mac… what?" Clover blinked and waved his hand ignoring it. "How's training going? Not working with Harpy today?"

"Nah." Was all Amber said as she took large circular weights off the bar with the end of her Rabbit spotter. "Working with Velvet today." Indicating to her nervous looking spotter. "She's pretty dope."

"Hello there!" The anxious rabbit faunus spoke and gave a curt bow to the ace-ops captain.

"Training with Beacon kids? Ballsy, sure you won't be fighting them next?"

The thought looked like it had never even crossed Amber's mind, she scoffed at her teacher with a mix of skepticism and doubt. "You think I can't take em? I'm crazy Clover, I'll take on the whole team."

Clover just shook his head, a big smile crossing over his face even as he tried to look stern and commanding.

"Calm down 'Me-lucky-charms', Ain't nothing I can't handle here, gotta be thinking about my next throw-down, not three no-hold-bars-rumble! Jaune said I gotta keep my balls on his eye, see what's in front of me."

"Eye on the ball." Clover corrected.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure it's what I said."

Rolling his eyes he shifted on his feet, turning away completely when Amber bent over to rest down some of her weights back where she got them. She seemed completely unaware of the show she was giving both Clover and Velvet, though where Clover looked away, Velvet greedily drank in the sight of her round firm butt wiggling back and forth.

When Amber got back up and stretched out her back she ran her fingers through the fur on her arms. "I need to shave again." But then looked over her shoulder at Clover. "What'cha here for anyway, C-money?"

Clover peeked over to make sure he wasn't looking at anything weird but honestly Amber hardly had an ounce of modesty and really he should have been used to this by now. "I came to see how you were doing on prep work for the upcoming fight, Pyrrha Nikos is a tough cookie."

"I eat cookies for breakfast!" Amber posed, flexing her arms like she was going to be on a magazine cover.

"That's incredibly unhealthy."

"Don't tell Jaune, I need this, it's the only thing holding me together." Amber pleaded, even if only jokingly. When Clover just put his hands on his hips, giving her a half serious look, she relented. "Jaune's got a plan, he's gonna be explaining it to us later tonight."

She shot him some finger guns which only made their captain roll his eyes. "You and Harpy still fit and ready for a sparring session tomorrow?"

"I'm always jiggy with it, dog."

"Is… is that a yes?" To which amber nodded emphatically. Seeming content with that Clover just scanned over the gym, making a face at the way it was put together. It was significantly more haphazard than the Atlas training areas. "Alright, well, as much fun as you are Amber-"

"Oodily doodily."

"Yeah… Uhh, I need to go back and escort Amelia's sister to Beacon tower, so, I'll talk to you later, K?" He offered his fist out and up nodded her. "Pound it."

She knocked her knuckles against his and gave him an upnod. Watching him walk out of the room and staring, obviously at her butt while he marched away. Once the door closed she it was clear he couldn't hear, Amber nodded towards Velvet and whistled. "Hate to see him go, love to see him walk away."

Velvet's face went bright red, covering her mouth with her hand and fidgeting with her ears. "Wha- I, I don't know about that!"

"If that man wasn't gay as macrons I'd rock his world like an earthquake." Amber just snapped her fingers.

"Aren't you dating Harpy?" Velvet asked, turning her head to see another woman approaching him, her teammate Coco.

"The captain of the Ace-ops is gay?" Coco added to the conversation.

"Did you just say 'Gay as Macrons?'" Another woman's voice called out from around the corner, Yang Xiao Long, who was exercising with the other girls but had been out of sight on the treadmill.

"The most notoriously gay patsry." Amber clarified, as though that had been the most important question. "Besides, I'm not actually gunna. But he does have a cute butt."

"I mean you're right but c'mon, no point in ogling if your partner isn't there to ogle with you?" Coco saddled up next to Velvet and pointedly wrapped her arms around Velvet, giving her a playful kiss on the cheek.

"Like you and Velvet both looking at my butt?" The wolf girl challenged, with a coy little wink at the two.

"Well of course, it's the best view in the room, besides my bun-bun of course." Coco agreed, snuggling her nose into the crux of collarbone and giving her girlfriend a series of kisses.

"C-co!" the bunny girl squealed and tried to dodge out of the way from the tickling pecks.

Amber got to work setting up at the squat rack, putting weight on until she was happy with it, from this angle she could see the slightly annoyed expression of Yang. She was glancing over at the wolf-girl but then shifted, looming back over to the loving couple still grappling with each other as Velvet tried to escape her girlfriend's clutches.

When Amber's eyes looked over at the girl she made a face like she was trying to put pieces together, was Yang looking at them with malice? Nah that was like, was envy the right word or jealousy? It was envy right? Amber got lost on that train of thought for way too long.

"You two are so cute you make me wanna vomit." Yang's voice came out in perfect joyful teasing, she was encouraging the two even while poking fun at them for their public affection.

"If you ever want me to go wingmanning for you, I know some nice guys I could hook you up with." Coco offered, tilting her head, that was still leaning against Velvet's cheek to look at the Golden haired girl, giving Velvet a quick thwack on the butt when her guard was down.

"Ugh!" the thudding sound of Yang setting down her dumbbells with the echoing sound of her groan behind it. "All the boys at this school are just meat heads, that or they're like, scared of me or something."

Yang rolled her eyes and planted her elbow on her knee and chin in her palm. "Plus like none of them are really my type.

"What's a 'type'?" Amber asked, even though she wasn't really in the conversation.

The tall bruiser woman looked over, out of the corner of her eye and looked away like she was searching for the answer on the adjacent wall. "Huh? It's like, what attracts you to someone, I guess? Like looks?"

Amber didn't seem like she followed but didn't add to it. "Okay, well what's your type?"

"Yeah, narrow it down for me, I can totally find someone for you." Coco agreed.

Yang's face started to grow red around her nose and cheeks, trying to scoff off the remarks and raised her hands to indicate a distance of a little less than a foot apart. "This is my type, if you get me, right gals?"

"Good luck, I can probably name like five guys that have what you need." Coco rolled her eyes, and when Velvet made a face as if asking how she knew that. "By rumor, my only ex from this school was disappointingly small, but now I have my cute bun-bun, and honestly I don't see much reason to go back."

"Is… is that big?" Trying to hide a smile with clearing her throat, Amber started to lower herself down with the weight moving up and down easily, her thighs and calves tensing and showing off the well defined muscle just under her plush surface.

Yang looked at the space between her hands, looking at Coco with a knowing look, guessing that because Amber was with Harpy, they must not know average sizes, and much have a huge toy to play with.

They were… vaguely right.

"I believe so." with a tentative answer, Velvet chimed in. "Isn't that bigger than average?"

"Average is like 5 inches." Yang reasoned, shifting her hands to show that size, a fair margen less. And honestly felt embarrassed by the fact she felt in her heart more comfortable with that size. "But, like, honestly, fingers are what, three inches?- and they totally get the job done."

Amber lifted up the weight and from behind her Coco and velvet could both see the perfect muscular lines of her back. Which made even Velvet bite into her lip, sucking air between her teeth. Amber just mulled over the idea as she lowered back down, her ass sticking out, much to the appreciation of her companions. "Well if you want I think Jaune is your type, if you want his scroll contact."

Yang tried to avoid eye contact at the mention of Jaune, she had weird mixed emotions about the guy. Not only was her most recent memory of seeing him entirely naked and seeing him rutting into someone in the background of the call his teammate had answered.

No one on team Rwby had really spoken about the call, each of them kind of muttering that it was odd and each leaving the room to form their own opinion on it. Yang, however had noticed that Jaune was obviously fucking all three of his teammates and even though every on campus had the rumor that Harpy and Amber were together, something Amber confirmed quite eagerly, Yang was so severely confused about the whole situation.

That being said, Yang hadn't seen his dong, the sight behind Harpy had been just a mess of bodily fluids and tangled limbs, they'd only seen it so briefly that Yang didn't know what she saw. But, Coco and velvet seemed skeptical, honestly, yang wasn't entirely sure what she believed when it came to Jaune.

[ Continued in Next Chapter ]