Chapter-63

It took awhile for things to settle around the events of his sudden kidnapping but settle they did. The defeat of the Temptation lifted a weight from all of their shoulders but Jaune's most of all. Her death was a salve he didn't know he needed, and the continued support of his girlfriends was all the healing he needed.

Though things weren't without their dark linings.

Grimm Cerise was still missing.

They'd looked everywhere, overturned every rock and searched the entire city of Mantle, and they had found nothing. It was either living amongst the population – unlikely, though not impossible – or it had escaped beyond the walls despite their security, but further searches extending out into the arctic tundra had proved fruitless.

She was gone.

It was the sole blemish on what had ultimately been a successful take down of a dangerous Grimm. It needed to be addressed, and she needed to be found. Such a Grimm was worrisome and not the type of creature they wanted roaming out in the world. Atlas would continue to search but life went on, and now that the kingdom was beginning to reopen borders and reestablish trade, things were busy. A census was being conducted both in Atlas and Mantle, and several dignitaries were due to arrive in the coming days from Vale, Mistral, Vacuo and Menagerie.

That last one was cause for concern because Blake's parents were on their way! Menagerie didn't have any foreign ministers nor did they have a council of elected officials like Vale and Atlas, and so that meant the Chieftain himself would be attending with his wife.

Jaune wasn't looking forward to that one, though he was happy for Blake that she would get to see her parents.

The students of Atlas Academy were also prepping for exam season, meaning that the school was a hive of panicked, stressed out teenagers thinking their lives were about to end. It was funny how they could face down the creatures of Grimm with calm determination but then come completely unstuck at the thought of a few dozen questions on a piece of paper. The few times he had spoken with Neon, she'd been at her wits end. After a few drawn out and enthusiastic make out sessions, though, she'd felt much more confident about her chances.

Things were returning to a semblance of normalcy and it might actually stick this time but there was still one more big event to happen. A momentous occasion was upon them.

And today was the day.

"I don't want to go."

Jaune shared a look with Ren, trying to hold back his smile but finding it impossible. Ren returned his smile by rolling his eyes, though he definitely saw his mouth twitch a little.

"Nora," Ren said in a long suffering sigh. "You have to go."

"Don't wanna," she repeated petulantly.

"You volunteered," Ren reminded her. "Are you really going to back out now?"

"That would be pretty lame," Jaune chimed in and had to bite his lip to keep from snickering when Nora glared at him. Jaune cleared his throat. "Don't you think so, Ren?"

"Very lame," his brother in all but blood confirmed.

"You two are assholes," Nora said bluntly, crossing her arms. Jaune almost lost it then and there. "Do you feel good, bullying me like this?"

Ren wasn't about to let her guilt them. "It isn't so amusing when the shoe is on the other foot, is it?"

Nora huffed.

"I thought you'd be more excited for this," Jaune said.

"I am excited," she said after a moment, looking down. "I'm just… a little scared, as well."

Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze of encouragement. "You know we'll be right there with you, right? We aren't going anywhere."

"Everything will be fine," Ren reassured her. "We're both proud of you."

Jaune nodded. "Super proud."

"It may hurt a lot and they can't really give you anything for the pain," Ren said, completely deadpan. "You might scream; a lot. And who knows how long it might take, this isn't something they do every day—"

Jaune nudged him in the shoulder. "Okay, not helping, Ren."

"—but we'll be right beside you the entire time," he finished.

They saw her mouth wobble briefly before she couldn't help it; she smiled.

"You're such an idiot," she said in faux anger. "This is really scary!"

"It's about time I got you back for all the times you joke at my expense."

Jaune watched fondly as Nora lunged forward and began wrestling with her childhood friend, Ren not even trying to escape as she locked her arms around him and fell into a hug instead. Jaune watched Ren's calm expression waver as he returned the hug, resting his face in her hair.

They might be trying to make light of the situation to help calm Nora down but this was a big deal.

It wasn't everyday that someone you loved became the Fall Maiden, after all.

Jaune gave them a moment, walking over to the window and peering out across the grounds of the academy. He tried not to let his mind wander to dark places but he couldn't help it, a memory flashing through his mind of the worst day of his life. He could still smell it, even to this day. The overly sterile tang of the room they were in, a cavernous vault buried deep within the earth. It had been an almost metallic taste in the back of his throat, a sharp discomfort like someone had sprayed pure alcohol into his mouth. He would never forget the sight of that unknown woman he now knew to be Amber suspended in a rectangular pod looking cold, lifeless, face disfigured. Pyrrha climbing into a matching machine, her expression forced into calm but Jaune could see the turmoil in her eyes; worry, fear but fortified by resolve, determination, destiny …

Jaune sighed, rubbing at his eyes.

He didn't want to remember that. But he knew that today of all days was going to make it difficult to shunt those memories aside.

"Jaune?" Ren called and he turned, smiling.

"Want to get some breakfast?" he asked, none of his thoughts apparent on his face. "We still have time."

Nora perked up a little at the thought of food.

They made their way to the mess hall. It was still relatively early so the place was mostly deserted. Just a few early birds that appeared to be already hitting the books as they munched on toast or slurped up their cereal in record time before hurrying from the room, beside themselves. Jaune shared a look with his teammates and chuckled.

"That is something I don't miss about Beacon," Jaune said with amusement.

They never made it to the end of the year but they'd had midterms which were bad enough. Jaune could still remember how utterly out of his depth he'd been, scrambling to learn as much as he could in as short a time possible. While things like History were easy enough even though he found the subject boring and it wasn't his strong suit, the more huntsman orientated classes had been the most difficult. A lot of what they learned in those classes built upon what students learned at huntsman preparatory schools – of which Jaune did not attend. Even Ruby had been in a better position despite being accepted to Beacon two whole years early, though the missing gaps in her knowledge had hampered her and needed to be filled.

Weiss had relished the challenge.

Even so, watching these students made him feel nostalgic.

Ren faced his partner. "Since this is your big day, you can have whatever you desire."

Nora clucked her tongue. "What are you, my mother? I can have whatever I want every day!"

"Would like you like pancakes?" Jaune joined in, talking as if to a child who required a reward. "With lots and lots of syrup?"

"I hate you both."

Nora ended up getting a stack of waffles instead, pouring a ridiculous amount of maple syrup over them and topping it with whipped cream. She even tossed a handful of berries on top; a collection of blue, black and raspberries.

Ren settled for tomato and toast, while Jaune ordered an omelet with a large side of bacon, and a salad. Something he'd noticed was while he didn't have the same ravenous hunger that he used to, he still ate a lot more than before the attack. The parasites probably had something to do with it originally but they'd left a mark, and when he finished his meal, he started stealing pieces of waffle from Nora's plate.

She complained but he could already tell that she'd taken far too many waffles, even for her ferocious appetite. Nora ate most of them but the last couple Jaune devoured, licking the plate clean until it was spotless.

"That was good."

Nora rubbed her stomach, looking a little queasy as she watched him with her leftovers.

Ren had finished his toast long ago and was now sipping on a mug of green tea, the herbal scent causing Nora to lean away in disgust. More people had gradually appeared, the mess hall slowly filling up. It wasn't long until Team RWBY arrived, the four girls grabbing their food and joining them at their table.

"Heya," Yang chirped, looking fresh and ready to slay another day. "You guys already eaten?"

Jaune nodded. "Yeah, we just finished."

Ruby took the seat to his immediate right while Blake slipped in on his left. Weiss gave the pair an unimpressed look before sitting down next to Blake. Yang chose to sit down next to Nora, across from Ruby.

"How's our special girl today?" Yang slapped Nora on the back, almost slamming her into the table. "Ready to become even more badass than ever?"

Nora pouted.

"We just ran into Uncle Qrow," Ruby said happily as she began pouring milk onto her cereal, missing the panicked expression that briefly crossed Jaune's face. "He was going somewhere with Clover and Weiss' sister. It looked really important, they couldn't stop to chat or anything."

"Winter appeared troubled," Weiss confirmed, frowning. "I believe something has happened but I do not know what."

"Just what we need; more problems," Yang bit into her apple and chewed. "Can't we just catch a break and not have to deal with shit for a while? Oh! Maybe they found you-know-who!"

That was their code name for Grimm Cerise when around other people.

Blake didn't break eye contact with her fish as she said, "We can only hope."

"Have you gone to see the other ones?" Yang asked, a little awkward. "I – I went to see them, once. Just through the glass, you know? But they give me the heebie-jeebies whenever I look at them. Especially the one that looks like me. Is this what having a twin feels like?"

Jaune nodded. "I've gone a couple of times now. They don't appear to be doing much."

That wasn't entirely true. A few things they'd discovered was that they did eat human food, though they didn't appear to produce waste from ingesting it. Whether the food did anything for them was another thing but Grimm Weiss had taken a liking to sweets, while Grimm Neon and Blake were enamored with fish. Matter of fact, the expression Blake currently wore was the exact same he'd just seen on her counterpart's face a few days prior. Another thing was the hybrids loved watching television; particularly shows involving animals. Just the other day, Jaune had sat with them as they'd watched documentary after documentary on lions, tigers, elephants, birds and more for several hours straight.

He wasn't crazy that he thought they were much more interested in the shows that focused on predators, right? They were definitely leaning in towards the television a lot more during those ones.

They had also taken to wearing clothes, though not very well. Grimm Yang liked to walk around in one of Jaune's spare shirts and nothing else, the hem tastefully shielding her modesty but capable of failing at a moment's notice. Wasn't it strange how sometimes covering a bit of skin made a woman all the more attractive? The teasing hint of her smooth pale thighs, the curve of her butt just out of reach, her crotch bare and unprotected underneath. Without trying, she had captured the essence of eroticism much like the woman she resembled. On the other hand, Grimm Ruby held a strange fascination with boots, and when Jaune managed to procure a cloak, she'd taken to wearing boots and the cloak, and nothing else.

It was becoming a bit of a thing.

...he wondered if he could get Ruby to wear something similar.

"Do they talk?" Ruby asked, intrigued.

"Not really," Jaune shrugged, keeping his voice low. "They call me father and they've said a few other words, but it almost feels like they haven't learned how to yet. I think someone needs to teach them."

Did they really want to do that? Well, Doctor Polendina did. Jaune was a bit iffy on the subject. Having a full blown conversation with a Grimm just seemed really weird and reminded him too much of the Temptation for comfort, but if they could learn to speak fluently…

Well, that would speak volumes, wouldn't it?

So far, the research had mostly focused on their behavior and how they interacted with Jaune, their environment and each other. As far as biology went, they'd been able to take some samples of their blood, hair and skin, and even a few of their more strange bodily functions like the acidic venom that Grimm Weiss could produce through her hair snakes, as well as the purple spit that Ruby had fallen victim to.

Some of the scientists had been beside themselves with their findings but Jaune couldn't even begin to understand this level of science, so didn't even try. All he knew was that they appeared to be a perfect blend of human and Grimm, or faunus and Grimm in the cases of Neon, Fiona and Blake.

They were just like Salem but these creatures had been born like this. They hadn't started off as something else. The Temptation had taken his genetic material and had given birth, and the nutrients used for growth had been the lustful energy he had gorged himself on whenever he was intimate. According to the samples, these creatures really were his daughters – at least, their DNA said so.

It was food for thought.

Yang then decided to take the conversation in a strange direction. "You aren't sleeping with them, are you?"

"What? No, of course not!" Jaune spluttered. "Why on the earth would you think that?"

Weiss hummed, cupping her chin as she appeared to inspect him critically. Those ice blue eyes missed little. "I could think of a few reasons why she could think that."

Jaune crossed his arms. "Don't you think you're being a little unfair?"

A thin eyebrow arched.

Jaune sighed. "Okay, fair – but no, I am not sleeping with them. They think I'm their father and – well, they are kinda right."

Blake was still focused entirely on her fish but that didn't stop her from offering her own two lien between bites. "If you have sex with the other Blake, I will never forgive you."

"Are we really talking about this?" Ren asked incredulously.

"Welcome to my world, Ren," Jaune shook his head. "Where nothing makes sense and people say ridiculous things all the time."

"Aw, Blake is jealous of herself now," Yang cooed. "You're just the cutest when you get like this, babe."

"Fiona said it probably has to do with her being a cat," Jaune supplied. "They can be territorial towards strangers or something."

Ruby snickered as Blake finally pulled her attention away from her meal to glare at him.

"That isn't real," she said firmly. "We aren't animals."

Jaune shrugged, carefully looking away. "Just passing on what Fiona told me, that's all."

Blake huffed. "Well, she's wrong!"

Nora had been silent for a while now and when Jaune looked over, he saw that she was beaming from ear to ear, taking everything in.

When their eyes met, he asked, "Feeling better?"

She blinked, surprised – and then laughed. "Yeah. Lots. My problem feels a lot smaller and less important than what you have to deal with."

And it was only going to get more crazy. He had children on the way, seven at least . Normal children… he hoped.

"We should talk about baby names this afternoon," Weiss suddenly suggested, looking excited by the prospect.

"Way ahead of you, Weiss," Ruby said proudly, puffing out her chest. "Jaune and I have already picked out names."

Yang blinked. "Oh, yeah… we should probably do that, huh?"

From there, the conversation fell apart as Yang started throwing out any name she could think of, most of them utterly ridiculous and a form of child abuse. Weiss wished for a theme but couldn't decide on what worked best, then admitted quietly that if it was a boy, she'd like to name him after her grandfather. Weiss could really be the cutest sometimes. Blake's suggestions were somehow even worse than Yang's for entirely different reasons.

"You really are an edge lord sometimes," Yang shook her head, disappointed.

"What's wrong with Archer Blaze?" Blake said, indignant. Jaune palmed his face.

Weiss agreed with Yang. "Names are important. They carry them for the rest of their lives – unless they are horrible, then they get the court to change them. You don't want that to happen, do you?"

"You didn't say anything when Yang suggested Melodeigh," Blake snapped. Jaune cringed at that one. Melody was a nice name but not spelled like that. He hoped Yang had been joking. He was sixty percent sure she was. You never could tell with her.

"Because it was so stupid as not to warrant a response," Weiss replied calmly. "And Yang wouldn't risk child services taking her daughter away."

Weiss was on a bit of a roll right now.

Yang looked at Weiss with narrowed eyes. "If you aren't careful, I'll write the name on the birth certificate of your child. See how clever you feel then."

Ruby just sat there with a huge grin on her face, supplying no words, basking in her superiority.

Eventually Yang started on Blake, suggesting that if the cat faunus had more than one baby, they would call it a litter. As expected, Blake took that poorly. The pair then began passive aggressively arguing as everyone finished their food.

"Should we get going?" Jaune asked.

Nora hopped to her feet first, hands on hips. "I'm ready!"

Doctor Polendina's lab wasn't far from the school. At least the one they would be visiting today. It was technically still on campus but it wasn't somewhere that any student could just visit for a stroll. There were security checks and plenty of guards on hand which made sense. The technology on hand here wasn't the type of thing you wanted people with nefarious designs to get their hands on, but you also wanted to be close to the biggest concentration of aura users in the kingdom.

Because that was his specialty; aura.

Without aura, there would be no Penny after all.

"Welcome, welcome," Pietro greeted them as they entered a relatively large room ringed by a series of workbenches filled with numerous gadgets. In the middle of the room were two familiar machines, Jaune doing his best to ignore them as they approached the doctor. By his side was Penny who waved happily.

"Hello, friends~!" she greeted with her usual enthusiasm.

"Hey Penny," Ruby skipped forward and gave her friend a hug. "What's up?"

"I do believe the sky is up," as ever, she answered literally, garnering more than a few chuckles.

"Where is our Maiden of the moment," Pietro asked and taking a deep breath, Nora stepped forward.

"Here I am," she announced, squaring her shoulders. "Do your worst!"

Pietro grinned, maneuvering his chair closer to get a better look at her. "Don't worry, lass. This isn't the dentist."

"I think I'd rather that at this point," she said bluntly. "Where is it?"

"Just this way."

He led them over to a containment capsule. Typing away on the tablet connected to his chair, the capsule beeped before the locks disengaged before it opened with a hiss of displaced air. Sitting neatly atop a small podium was the fake Relic of Knowledge. Where the inner sphere once emulated the cool, calm blue of a clear sky, it now roiled with a violent storm of red and orange, the magnificent power of a Maiden contained.

"Here it is," Pietro said solemnly.

Nora moved closer to get a better look.

Blake looked around. "I thought General Ironwood was meant to be here."

Pietro grimaced. "Something important came up. He wished to oversee the transfer of power but his attention is needed elsewhere at present."

Ozpin was also absent.

A door opened suddenly.

"Well, I see they finally arrived," a familiar voice said before a short, elderly woman entered, cane tapping against the ground with every step. "Are we about to get this show on the road or not?"

Maria smiled at this with a big toothy smile.

"Maria," Ruby exclaimed in surprise. "Your eyes are different!"

She was right. The prosthetics she usually wore were gone and in their place were a much more sleek, fancier model. More angular and less clunky, it covered less of her face and gave her eyes a more narrow appearance.

Quick as a whip, the Huntress formerly known as the Grimm Reaper bonked Ruby on the head with her walking stick.

"Ow~!" Ruby flinched, rubbing the top of her. "What was that for?"

"You should never comment on an old woman's appearance," Maria chided.

"Did you make those, Doctor?" Ren asked as Yang snickered at Ruby's misfortune.

"I did indeed," Pietro appeared pleased. "Those ol' things she was wearing before were in dire need of an upgrade. This new model was developed using much of the technology already in use by Penny here," said girl beamed happily as she rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. "Allowing for a much smaller, pleasing design and higher quality vision."

"Yap, yap, yap," Maria groused. "We aren't here for me."

A sudden tension filled the room.

The moment was upon them.

"What do I do?" Nora asked, face filled with determination.

She was shown to a reclining chair complete with restraints to impair movement, several large, heavy duty cables leading from it to a large machine. Nora gave them a once over before getting seated, leaning back as the chair moved her into position. She was almost laying completely flat when her wrists and ankles were encircled by steel bands.

"This will be painful," Pietro said seriously. "The restraints are to keep you as still as possible until the transfer is complete.

"Why aren't we using the pods?" Jaune asked as the doctor pulled a strap across Nora's forehead, securing it tightly.

"They are incompatible with the fake lamp," Pietro said. "The transfer of power will be faster than they can handle," reaching into a small container, he pulled out a specially designed mouth guard. "This will protect your tongue. Open, please."

Nora opened her mouth and when the mouthguard was in place, she bit down to test it.

"Comfortable?"

She nodded and gave a thumbs up, even though she couldn't lift her arm.

"Excellent. Penny, if you would?"

Penny perked up. "Certainly, father."

Steady hands cradled the fake lamp as Penny picked it up and carried it over to the machine connected to the chair. Pietro's fingers danced across his tablet and a small section in the front opened, revealing an impression in the shape of the false relic. Penny neatly slotted it into place and with a loud hum, the machine lit up.

"We're all here, Nora," Ren said, taking his place beside her. One of his hands rested on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "You can do this."

They all gathered around her so she could see them and even though she couldn't speak, Jaune could see the gratitude in her eyes as she looked at each and everyone of them.

"Ms. Valkyrie, are you ready?"

Nora gave a swift, sharp nod.

With the press of a button, the room was filled with light.

What followed was perhaps one of the most difficult moments of Jaune's life. To hear Nora scream in such agony and not being able to do a thing about it shook him to his very soul, and his nails threatened to puncture the skin of his palms, he clenched his fists so hard. The look on Ren's face only made it worse.

And that was to say nothing of the voice he could hear across memory and time, of his partner's screams moments before Cinder ended Amber's life.

How long the process took, Jaune didn't know. Nora's muffled screams filled the room for what felt like an eternity and despite their best efforts, Team RWBY could not shield him from the pain he experienced hearing her like that. He felt their hands on his arms, on his back in an attempt at comfort and while he appreciated the gesture, would forever love their care and concern – this was not something that could be soothed away.

But he took strength from their presence, and that was enough.

Finally when the light died down and Nora's voice tampered off into vague whimpers, Ren surged forward, closely followed by Jaune.

"Nora!" Ren shouted, hands hovering just shy of grasping her shoulders. "Nora, can you hear me?"

Her eyes moved frantically beneath her eyelids, face pinched as her body writhed. Jaune was about to grab her and use his semblance when a red glow poured from her closed eyes moments before they sprung open.

Jaune grunted as an overwhelming force slammed into him, casually lifting him off his feet. He heard Team RWBY give startled shouts as they were hit next, a vortex of highly pressurized wind throwing them adrift like leaves scattered in a brisk breeze. His aura flared as he was slammed into a wall, tumbling to the ground in heap as Nora ascended into the air, lightning dancing between her fingers.

Penny had managed to save her father from suffering any damage at the very last moment, catching him and his chair moments before collision.

"Friend Nora, please stop!" she implored. "You are safe!"

Red eyes filled with unbelievable power turned to face them and for a brief moment in time, Jaune thought they were about to be in a fight for survival. The lightning dancing across her hands arched, the wind howling faster as machinery was tossed around like it weighed no more than cardboard. The room trembled as the earth heaved beneath their feet, ready to erupt – but then Ren managed to push himself up from where he'd been flung, face filled with determination as he held his ground.

"Nora," he said, his voice swallowed by the wind – but she heard him.

Her eyes cleared, the power of the Fall Maiden forced back into submission. Nora slowly lowered to the ground as the vortex of air dissipated, the lightning crawling across her arms sparking into nothingness. Jaune sighed in relief as his teammates came together in a furious hug, Nora all but throwing herself into Ren's arms, and looked around to see what had happened to his girlfriends.

"A little help would be appreciated," Weiss said from a few feet away, upside down on top of one of the work benches. He couldn't see her face because her dress was draped across it, and her panties were on full display. He tried not to stare.

"Right," Jaune hurried to her side, tilting her the right way up. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," she huffed, adjusting her hair.

Yang popped up from beneath one of the aura transfer pods that had been tossed aside from Nora's explosion of raw power, her eyes burning crimson with the power of her semblance.

"That was a little too wild," she said, letting the machine crash back to the floor. "Where is Blake?"

"Help," they heard a voice say weakly.

"Where did that come from?" Jaune looked around but couldn't see her – or Ruby, for that matter. "Ruby?"

"Up here," Ruby called out and they looked up.

Ruby waved at them from where she hung, her cloak wrapped around one of the lighting fixtures. Blake was also tangled up in it, the material wrapped around her face, neck and left shoulder. She hung limply.

"I tried to catch her with my semblance and we kinda ended up here," Ruby explained, giggling.

"Help," Blake moaned again.

Weiss summoned a glyph beneath them, allowing Ruby to stand and untangle her cloak, freeing the both of them. Blake looked a little green in the cheeks, shying away from her team leader and into the arms of Yang, who snickered while patting her on the head.

"There, there," Yang cooed. Fingers scritched at her kitty ears. "The big bad semblance is gone."

Weiss rolled her eyes.

Everyone safe and in one piece, Jaune returned his attention to his teammates.

"Nora," he said when they finally ended their hug. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, her face filled with tiredness but otherwise in good spirits, giving him a thumbs up. "I'm the new Fall Maiden, baby."

"Goodness," Pietro approached, Penny by his side. "How do you feel, child?"

"Tired," she admitted. "My throat hurts."

"Nothing else?" he pressed.

Nora thought about it. "A little light headed. I could do with some ice cream."

"I'm sure we can accommodate that," Pietro smiled.

"Something weird did happen, though."

"Something weird?" Ren asked.

"I saw Cinder," as soon as the name passed her lips, Jaune tensed. "We were… I don't know. Somewhere bright – there was nothing else there but light. She wasn't in good shape," Nora looked disturbed when she said this. "I think she was trying to speak but all she could do was groan. It was really freaky."

Was that normal?

A door opened and General Ironwood stepped inside accompanied by Qrow and Ozpin, pausing as he saw the state of the room.

"What the hell happened here?" Qrow barked first.

They all pointed at Nora.

"Hey," she sulked. "It wasn't my fault."

"I see," Ozpin smiled. "The transfer was a success, I take it?"

Pietro nodded. "It was. You are looking at the new Fall Maiden."

The last person to enter the room was Winter and at once, Jaune could tell there was something different about her. At first glance, nothing appeared out of the ordinary about her appearance but there was something subtle, something he couldn't place his finger on.

"I apologize for my absence," Ironwood said. "But something of equal importance occurred and we were required elsewhere."

Equal importance? What was…

"Oh," Weiss gasped, hand covering her mouth. "Winter?"

Her elder sister nodded, eyes sad.

"Fria – the previous Winter Maiden – passed away twenty minutes ago," Ozpin announced. "We received word of her failing health and rushed to be by her side. Winter Schnee is the new Winter Maiden."

You could hear a pin drop.

"Oh?" Nora stepped forward, puffing out her chest. "How about we take these powers for a spin?"

Winter gave Nora a severe glance.

"A childish suggestion."

Nora smirked.

"Chicken?"

Winter's eyes tightened.

"When and where?" Winter replied sharply.

Ironwood shook his head. "I would appreciate it if you didn't conspire to destroy my school."