"Ah."

Sangue processed the information in her head before nodding softly. She had heard random students say something about "using lubes" in the academy, so she had been quick to presume that what she heard was "use Lube" instead. Not knowing the actual meaning behind the name she gave him, the swordswoman nodded again, this time to herself.

I shouldn't call him that, then, she thought, hoping that he did not feel too offended. Unbeknownst to her, the damage was already done, and she would be able to do nothing about it even if she knew.

Not that she would ever know...

After shakily rolling down two more barrels, she spoke to Luke again in yet another attempt to know more about him.

She remembered the notes she wrote down to understand more about socializing. And with the result of several hours of memorizing the notes, she managed to come up with something.

"I... think you're... nice," she spoke softly, her tone being less idle than usual. "You... seem caring. To those around... you..."

She had tried again. Maybe it would work this time...

In truth, she desperately hoped that what she said would not offend him. She already mispronounced his name after all, though she wondered why Lauren found it to be funnier than every single joke Sangue had tried to come up with so far. Perhaps the word "lube" meant something funny?

It was an interesting thought. Interesting, but certainly risky to think about. She knew that much, even if she had no idea what lube actually meant.

"You want me to go back upstairs?" he fired back testily, his voice a disenfranchised, indignant grumble beneath her ringing laughter. "I'm sure the others would appreciate the help in finishing the manticore off."

Nonetheless, Luke carried on, loading his pair and turning about-face towards the storage room for more, proceeding at what was, in scientific terms, known as a "dissatisfied half-trot, half-jog". She would get tired of it in a week with luck, sure, but it still was going to be a whole week of hearing it from her and whomever else decided to join in.

At least Sangue had the right idea now. If nothing else, that made it easier.

"...I do care, yeah." he responded after a moment's contemplation of (and simmering down thanks to) the Swordswoman's words. "I'm glad you think I'm a nice guy, even though I'm not sure of it myself, but I do care about the people around me."

How they were feeling.

What they were doing.

If they needed help.

If they made him decide they needed help.

"I care a lot. That's why I'm here."

If I can stand amongst them.

"I wanna help people. I hate seeing people get hurt, and I can't stand people who just ignore it." He reached up, grunting as he pulled down the first of his next pair of barrels. "If I see somebody in front of me who's having a hard time, I wanna help them. I lose it if I don't. Maybe I'm following the impulse of the moment, but even if that's the case, there's no way I'm doing it carelessly. It's precisely because I care—"

Down came the second.

"—that I ever wanted to help in the first place."

Pushing the first down with his foot, he caught Sangue's eye.

"What about you?"

@Lugubrious

Truth be told, Ben Lloyd was almost happy the Manticore hadn't decided to run. He wanted to get the mission done as soon as possible, he was more than ready to be done for the day, and he didn't want the massive Grimm on the ground with his teammate. But despite all of that, despite his desire to get the mission done, one little thing had been nagging him.

The Manticore was still alive. As long as that was true, he hadn't proven his point yet.

So when Goodwitch gave her orders, Ben didn't hesitate to dive head first back into the fray. Literally. Backing up a few steps from the end of the ramp, Ben took a running start and dove off of the ramp towards the Manticore below. The attack began before he ever reached the beast below, letting loose with his shotguns as he dropped towards the Manticore. Each Dust round, fire from the left and lightning from the right, served both to attack and to slow his fall. Ben was a little too eager to get back into the fight, sure, but he wasn't eager to be paste on the ground. He counted each shot, waiting until there was only a single shot left in each tonfa, before flipping them into a reverse grip.

Just in time, too. The wind whipped against his face, eyes protected only by his BaSTEELs, while he inched closer and closer to terminal velocity and the vast black expanse of the Grimm's back loomed before him. A grin stretched across his face mere instants before impact, the force gravity had imparted used to drive the two tonfa's blades deep into the Manticore's back. Deep by his standards, at least, less so for the titanic Grimm. Though his shotguns had slowed him down he nevertheless watched as the impact cut the Aura reserves indicated by his BaSTEELs from almost 300% down to 279%.

What a shame. Guess he'd have to make do with that paltry amount.

Ben let the remainder of his momentum carry his legs down from his impromptu handstand, boots impacting with the Grimm's back as his torso righted itself and pulled the blades from the beast's back in the process. That pinprick wasn't the true aim of his attack, however, it was just the vehicle of his arrival. Now things got fun. The chaingun had helpfully stripped most of the armor from the Grimm's back, making his run up its spine its spine one over uneven terrain rather than one over a mass of spikes. Deinamig ensured, though he watched his Aura levels drop a few points more, that the trip was quick enough to keep he Grimm from shaking him off. Not that he expected it to; in fact, he would be surprised if it had even noticed him. Cian's assault and its rage at Goodwitch's strike occupied most of its attention. Long enough for him to reach his destination, at least.

The chaingun had done one more helpfully thing, too; it had stripped a large swathe of the beast's mane from the back of its neck. The toxic spines within would have been an issue if it hadn't. As it was Ben reached the base of its neck a few seconds after landing with only five percent less Aura.

With a flick of the button, Ben's ears were treated to the music of clicking metal while Artorius and Lawnslot reoriented themselves and extended their blades to give him the right tool for the job. The Manticore was immense, many times taller than Ben himself, with a similarly massive neck. At its widest point the beast's neck was half again as wide as Ben was tall, easily. Not something a creature he could just decapitate.

But, then again, Caletfwlch was almost as big as he was. He could make a damn good try at it.

Ben brought the sword back over his shoulder, grin widening as he watched his Aura gauge plummet from 274% all the way down to 70 and strength filling his arms. A boost big enough to fill his Aura gauge two times over, and just enough left over to be ready for any trouble that might come up.

When Caletfwlch swung down, poised to cleave through more than half the diameter of the neck beneath him, the force from the recoil the last shot in Artorius' chamber provided was a drop in the ocean compared to Deinamig.

"Lube's a sweeeeeetheaaaaaart," Lauren sang, stopping to stroke the ahoge of her adopted little brother before kicking another two drums onto the lift. Between the three of them, they'd moved about half of the drums so far in seemingly no time at all, and Luke Schwarz's ability to monologue and talk at the same time made him hella more productive. Having Sangue here was convenient. Luke's body always seemed to function without his tacit approval around cute girls.

He and Cap probably have a lot of war stories to share...

Maybe there was a reason all the guys in her life seemed to have sexual harassment stories.

...

They all need confidence!

By the time the one-time carjacker's rare moment of self-awareness had ended, she had gotten to the remaining baker's dozen of chemical drums. Staring at them for a couple seconds, she slowly looked all the way down to the end of the hallway where Sangue and Luke were talking, then back to the drums. An idea struck her.

What the fuck, Negasi?

Work smart, not hard.

"Coming your way, babe!"

By the time Sangue and Luke looked up at Lauren, a drum was rolling down the hallway towards them, leisurely paced thanks to a keen shove from one of Lauren's feet. A second joined it in short order. Then a third.

Soon, they had a neat little production line going. Had to be easier than going two at a time.

He really did have a soft heart, she thought as Luke shared his own thoughts with her. It felt oddly strange to hear others talk about the well-being of those close to them; she had heard such things from her own team, but never with others. Perhaps she simply needed time to realize that many were willing to protect- even if some desired to hurt those who harmed their friends rather than protect said friends first. It was a reasonable way of protecting to some, and Sangue herself knew that much from personal experience before she entered the academy.

But it certainly conflicted with her slowly shaping moral.

"I think the... same," she spoke softly, her tone slightly more tender than before at the thought of those who were beloved to her. "I... think the same," she repeated.

All she had was her team, really. Her family was off on an unknown journey to survive and perhaps fulfill a mission, but at the cost of leaving Sangue in her untimely darkest times- her days as a child. Although she took it in well due to accepting the cold of fending off an unknown hostility in her home, she preferred the warmth of eating with those who laughed and dragged her into conversations rather than eating in the wilderness. She could live with the wild, but her newfound emotions made it hard to do so now.

If anything, she was living a completely new life. And she knew she had to be grateful for it.

"I..."

Pushing her second barrel a bit deeper into the lift, she turned to Luke with a rare expression. It was not a smile, but her eyes fixated on the boy with a softer gaze. It was rare for her to talk with students outside of her team aside from classes, and in classes, she was usually occupied with work or trying to stay awake due to a sleeping pattern left in shambles.

"I like... the way you think," she admitted, admiring his view on helping others. He was caring, yes, but that seemed to be an understatement. The care he held for those around him was far less selfish than her own. For while she cared about those close to her, it was mostly to relieve her own emotions that she helped others for.

It felt like she learned about a way to improve herself a bit. Just a bit. She still had numerous flaws, and only a small handful of talents that sometimes overshadowed said flaws.

"I like... people... who think that way," she stated honestly, almost repeating what she said earlier. "You're not... a nice... guy."

"You're... a great guy. A... cool guy. That's... how people refer to... people like... you. I think. The way you think- you should not let... go of it."

This was the most she had said to someone outside of her team. But this person named Luke seemed like someone she would respect, no matter what he really thought of her. Even if he found her to be odd, she found his own ideals to be simplistic, but oddly intriguing to someone like her.

"It's nice to know... there are... people like you. It really... is."

"I... want to be friends... with those kinds of people. They make... me feel... special. More than what I... should normally feel."

It really helped her to know that some people were nicer than her. So she did not find it a waste of time to talk with him. She hoped that she was not wasting his time.

Turning to Lauren, a light bulb brightened in Sangue's head as she moved over from the line of barrels that formed. Lauren was a genius! At least, to Sangue, she was. Or maybe the brawler was just clever, but cleverness was far more useful than the level of gullibility Sangue had.

Still, her own accuracy with the barrels was more inaccurate than a toddler throwing a softball. That could potentially waste time if Sangue kept missing the lift. With that in mind, the swordswoman decided to use the original method they used to move the barrels and rolled two barrels down to the lift.

Having finished preparing in team SASG's room, which culminated in the somewhat-ceremonial donning of his favorite blue jacket, Abel felt at peace. As mundane as his actions over the past few hours had been, they truly did take the edge of the concerns that prodded him, and now, with all of his ducks in a row, he could depart for an evening in Vale with a mind unclouded. Before he left, though, he made his way to a cage situated on one of the cabinets. Several feet wide and only a little less deep, the enclosure contained all sorts of toys and terrain. Upon a grassy knoll slumbered Scoot the ferret, and the city of the little critter curled up and fidgeting in his dreams brought a warm smile to Abel's face. He dared not pet the small dude for fear it might awaken him, but he badly wanted to. An ethereal sigh escaped from his lips, and he turned toward the door.

With his left hand in his pocket, he strode through the silent corridors toward the airship docks. Despite the plan seemingly in order, he moved rather hesitantly. His teammates had yet, after all, to reply to the group text message to which Abel had most recently responded. Though not obsessive, the guardian absolutely preferred to have a plan agreed upon before taking any significant action. Deprived of such organization, any kind of group venture could only end in disaster: boredom, frustration, and regret. Abel knew that he could not let that happen. His team needed no more divisions.

A few moments passed while he read a poster advertizing for some sort of Beacon robotics club attached to the wall. The flier did not really pique his interest, but he felt it necessary to while away a little time in the hopes that his scroll would buzz from a newly-received message telling him what exactly to do. After all, if he hopped on an airship to Vale and it turned out Gren was making his own dinner while Shiro changed his mind, he'd be all alone in a big, crowded city. His patience was rewarded—a vibration in his pocket prompted him to produce the scroll and view the new revelation. What he saw, however, made him frown.

"Hey, y'all want to come out to Vale and hang out or something? Y'all don't have to if you don't want. Just an idea." What? Hadn't Shiro gotten confirmation just a little while ago that both Gren and Abel would be happy enough to accompany him to a pizzeria in Vale? Maybe the faunus forgot. Abel, remembering his comrade's issues with memory in the past, felt sadness pour over him. Dealing with an amnesiac reminded him too closely of dealing with a relative with Alzheimer’s. Memories made people who they were; interacting with someone, knowing that their memories might slip away at any time, filled him with helplessness and sorrow. Carefully, Abel's fingers moved across the touchscreen. As per usual, his large digits sometimes pressed more than one letter key at once, and sometimes one he didn't mean to at all, but this time he kept these little accidents to a minimum.

To: Gren Orchid, Kuhaku Shiro
From: Abel Fulgurate
Subject: Re: Arcade and pizza?

Of course we want to hang out with you. I'm ready to go now. What's the address of the place I should go?

Oswald's response made Sapphire remember precisely why she never tried to reason her way out of situations. It never worked for her. She always managed to hit just the wrong button no matter what her intentions were. She'd spent enough time around Oswald to know that when his aura become visible, even slightly it meant he'd thrown his guard against some specific emotional threat. She'd seen it while he was spilling his blood over the Beacon training floors after his last mission.

His attempt to deflect the conversation to his home didn't fool her and it didn't help him as it seemed to steer him into another set of painful memories that he seemed to quickly suppress. Even without the appearance of his aura she could see his posture becoming increasingly defensive with every word he spoke. Smooth Sapphire, always hit the right switches don't you. she thought annoyed at herself.

Despite Sapphire's calm and collected demeanor she knew why he did it. Why he punched an inanimate object till his hands bled and he couldn't see straight. It was easier. Feeling that stinging pounding pain in the skin made it better. If you were hurting, your blood was being spilt, your wrists burning like they'd been set aflame, you didn't have to think about it. That soul crushing knowledge that you were responsible for someone else's suffering. The emptiness in your heart that said "You've failed". For those few moments the pain eclipsed it. It wasn't something a lot of people understood. Not unless they gone through it. It wasn't as though all the scars on Sapphire's arms were her father's fault.

"It's not worth it." she whispered. The air she breathed came in tight evenly spaced breaths. The perfectly ordered breathing of someone who is making a desperate and mostly successful attempt to keep the emotion out of their voice. "It gives you a moments reprieve but..." Sapphire had trouble finishing the thought. Her breath still coming in tight and controlled even as Oswald struggled to control his tear. "It... It just makes you hate yourself more in the end." It was sort of hypocritical of her but Sapphire had come to terms a long time ago with the fact that she was damaged beyond any hope of ever being whole again. She could only do whatever she could to make sure no one else was ever as broken as she often felt.

Just then her scroll played a three second clip of a hurricane ripping apart a forest. Her custom tone for any of Shiro's texts. Desperate for an excuse not to meet Oswald's eyes after those few short sentences revealed more about her then she ever wanted anyone to know. Quickly she pulled her scroll out and read more or less what she was expecting, grateful not to have to look at Oswald. It was a group text to the team asking if they wanted to go out. She had no doubt she was only included so that she wouldn't find out second hand that her team went out on the town without her. No one on her team, particularly Shiro actually favored her company. Taking her time to compose a reply and her face at the same time, she texted back.

From: Sapphire Rode
To: Abel Fulgerate @Lugubrious, Gren Orchid @Lucius Cypher, Kuhaku Shiro @harinezumikouken
Subject: "Re: Arcade and pizza?"

"Now's not a good time. I'm rather involved with something at the moment."

Normally she likely would have just said "No thanks." or "Not now." but Sapphire was dreading the look of pity that was probably already forming on Oswald's face. It was the last thing she ever needed, from anyone.
@Multi_Media_Man

Yue

Location: Beacon
Activity: Talking to Gren
Thoughts: "I'm more surprised that I've only heard one explosion today."

As Yue was wondering through school she heard and explosion and got into a defensive stance. She saw something being sent flying and went to investigate, only to find the faunas from lunch slam against the wall. Worried, she ran over to him. "Oh dust! Are you alright? Where does it hurt the most? Can you move?" Yue reached into her bag and pulled out various medical kits, from first aid to field surgery. Even though she doesn't actually know how to use most of the more complicated equipment, they did come with quick guides for most general injuries. She didn't see any blood or broken bones, but the person hadn't moved yet either. "If you can understand me, please tell me what seven plus six is." Yue needed to test this person's cognitive state. She hopes he didn't suffer any sort of brain damage from the explosion. Where did that explosion even come from, and what was it that it was strong enough to send this big fellow flying?

As everyone's assaults on the Manticore were going on, he was spending that time circling the beast and throwing his Lightning Pins all over it. By the end of everyone's attacks, and the smoke was clearing, they could see the countless pins over the black parts of its body, and some even wedged in the newly made wounds that crushed through its white bone armor. He didn't have the same amount of power in a single hit as most of his class mates, but when it came to pure damage per second, with the proper setup, there was no way he could beaten.

After Benjamin's strike landed, there were a tense few moments as the Manticore began to comprehend the hard blow it had taken, but before it could finish that, it was suddenly surrounded with blue and black lightning, the people with better eyes that can follow speed could spot only tiny blurry glimpses of Jack as he reached each Lightning Pin, delivering a strike at that location, however this action was done so numerously in such a short amount of time that it seemed as if dozens and dozens of him were doing the job, but it was an incredible sight.

Ending it off, he stopped at the head, and leaped backwards off it, doing a back flip at the same time as throwing a couple Lightning Pins at the deep wound that Benjamin had inflicted, before his back flip could end he was off again. All anyone saw was a giant black blue lightning slash as it seemed as if that wound was struck once before he was right back with the team. In actuality, that wound was struck at least several times.

Even as big as the Manticore was, the creation of hundreds of new cuts, and the rabid deepending of it's major wounds, it should not be able to survive it.

Visibly Jack was panting heavily, in fact he almost looked like he was glowing with his own Aura...

"I sorely hope that did the job...", he said, as he began to slow and control his breathing.

Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats. "
-HL Mencken

...She was done. Plain and simple. She was done with this mission, done with the endless complications and drags, done with every single little niggling thing that held them back. She was done with her own absentmindedness and constant lapses in attention, finished with her team pulling her through the slog of yet another unenthusiastic effort on her part.

But most of all, Amy was done with this stupidass, mother####ing giant cat. The Fury went limp in her hands, retracting into her sleeve as she looked out of the door of the airship, watching Luke and Goodbitch start carving the thing up. Ben, leader till the end, hurled himself into the abyss, followed shortly after by his hawk, though her descent was relatively more controlled... And for good reason, the chains of her weapon dropping her lightly onto the back of the Manticore from the helicopter, her knees bending and legs absorbing the impact as she hit the ground. Time seemed to slow, the arc of Ben's blade flashing in the sun as it started its decent into the creature's unholy flesh--something she processed but filed away for later as she maintained her balance, starting her own run toward the monster's head. She raised her right arm, flicking a few switches as the engine started to roar, aura ramping to the point of almost overcoming the sensory dampening of Lauren's BaSTEELS.

The flow of events

went to a snail's pace.

She fired.

The chain lanced

She ran, starting around toward Ben,

Aura burning

As the chain embedded in the concrete of the building.

Gun barrels spun out

Blasting in carefully aimed rays, following the lightning pins, weakening flesh.

Time sped again as her circumnavigation of the beast's neck was completed, the chain wrapping through Ben's newly made cut and neatly around the disatrously weak section of the monster's body he hadn't cut through yet. "BEN! HELP ME PULL," she shouted, then hurled herself off of the creature, snapping the chain through its neck with her body weight. It might not have been sharp, but... It hardly had to go through the vertebra to end the creature once and for all.

Somatically, subconsciously, Luke was aware that their plan of attack upon the barrels had changed, and his body made the adjustment on what was essentially autopilot. Catching each barrel pushed across by Sangue and loading them onto the lift with an almost mechanical pattern of movement, his conscious, thinking mind was somewhere else entirely.

Namely, a few yards down the hall.

Sangue, the most enigmatic person he'd ever come across in his life, was opening up to him just minutes after Lauren had. The venomous woman rarely spoke to begin with, let alone so honestly and intimately. For the second time in what felt like as many minutes, Luke found himself privy to a rare side of someone that they were never keen to share.

So, of course, he paid attention.

"If you're saying you want to be friends," he responded, smiling warmly. "Then I'd be more than happy to, Sangue."

"Yeah, pizza sounds great." Sepia replied to Krysthane's inquiry. It was strange, though. She didn't really feel all that hungry, but why else would she be so shaky? Maybe she was just as worried about Ebon as her team leader. "Wait a minute..." she frowned. "Where did that come from?" It was a reasonable assumption, sure, but she felt so sure, and Krysthane had actually been somewhat dismissive about his disappearance. "She's just trying to stay positive." Sepia's stomach seemed to drop, and a little bit of a cold sweat was starting to break out on her. This was consistently weird now, and she needed to be excused for a moment to collect herself. Cleaning off the blood would be nice too.

"Be right back. I have to, uh, use the restroom." her voice wavered slightly as she spoke, a knot starting to form in her chest. Her escape was momentarily delayed, as when she turned around to walk away, she noticed...oh no. If her spirits had been lowered before, they were now drifting around somewhere near her ankles. It was the tiger faunus. She wasn't about to let the nicest (and most attractive) boy at Beacon see her be whatever she was about to, whether it was freaking out, crying, or - concerned? "No, that's how you feel! I-I mean yeah, you're right!" she bolted past him, cringing with embarrassment. What a disaster, making an impression like that. Usually she was so composed about these things, but her stress level had been crawling up all day and she couldn't figure out why. Of course, not knowing the reason for an emotion usually made it worse.

A few tears had started to roll down her cheeks as she came upon a thankfully deserted public restroom. Sniffling softly, she made her way inside and locked herself in a stall. She stood still for a moment, trying to think about nothing but the buzzing florescent light above. She slowly slung her bag off of her shoulder and hung it on the door hook, the newfound emptiness in her mind helping to calm her. A long sigh escaped. Rubbing her eyes with one hand, she rifled through her bag with the other, eventually producing an extra set of clothes. As she stripped her ruined ones off, a she felt a gross, peeling sensation from her waist. And more wetness. There went the cap, apparently. "Why didn't my aura protect me from this? That's what it does, right?" she thought, holding the ruined shirt against her side as she tried to pull up her clean skirt. "Yes, I remember. It can be depleted after a long period of usage and used in semblance." She almost dropped her good shirt in shock as a thought came to her. "My semblance. I was forming small links with Krysthane and Shiro accidentally, maybe with others as well this whole time. I just attributed it to empathy, but it's too specific, come to think of it." If she was correct, this was very, very bad. It meant she had no idea how to shut it off and keep herself from being torn up in every fight.

Sepia mulled over this conclusion as she finished buttoning her shirt and unlocked the stall. She'd managed to tear off some unscathed pieces of fabric from her ruined clothes and tied them around her waist, disposing of the unsalvageable scraps in the trash. That should hold for now. However, how long were they going to be out? Sepia couldn't shake her feeling of dread as she exited the restroom and made her way slowly back to the group with her eyes downcast and cheeks red in memory of before.

@Eklispe @PyroDash888 @harinezumikouken

Lauren pushed the final chemical drum with a little less bombast than she would have normally had, taking the advantage to breath in deeply, rest her hands on her knees, and enjoy the conversation unfolding between the other two Huntsmen. It brought the same gentle smile to her face that she'd worn a minute before in the elevator, but they wouldn't notice. Lauren Negasi was the farthest thing from their minds right now.

Sangue deserved more friends. It had been a lotta years since Lorena had last seen someone so pure go so unappreciated by those around her. And Luke...Luke was a good boy.

I kept them safe.

She'd protected Sangue's modesty at the cost of her own. She'd dreamed up daring and inventive ways of killing Grimm alongside Ben that even she wouldn't have expected. She'd...well, she'd electrocuted Luke, but he had volunteered. Besides, she wouldn't have let anything happen to him. She would have taken over herself. No one would tell if she charred herself to a crisp.

For a kid from the streets with a 'break glass to save the world' weapon...

She wasn't half bad at this Huntress shit.

Slowly, Lauren beamed - and joined her friends in the lift.

As the elevator raised back up and the three began tossing drums from the lift into the back of the truck (a task made far easier for the students by the mere three yards of distance between the lift and the back of the stolen vehicle), Lauren found a small joy in the monotony of the job. It was nice to just do some old fashioned bitch-work after the day's antics.

All survivors had been extracted.

They'd stolen every swollen blue drum of insidious chemicals that wasn't hiding in Ben's scrotum.

Not bad.

"Alright, you kids, hop in! I'll get up top and signal Cap - just drive slow and try not to turn too fast." She could hear the pained roars of the Manticore outside, and as Lauren climbed atop the truck's cab and they slowly rolled out of the cargo bay with Luke behind the wheel, they were greeted with the welcome sight of Lauren's harem Ben and Amy working together, using Fury to decapitate the ugly fucker. The negligibly-clothed heart of Bastille stood up and gave her teammates a raucous, lusty cheer.

"W A L L A H I !"

Would they hear that?

She needed a way to signal them...

...

Should she take her bra off? It might work as a flag...

I'll wait for the dorms to pull that one.

A wicked grin grew across Negasi's face, and she decided - for maybe the first time in her adult life - to take the conservative option.

"WE'RE GONNA BE FUCKING R I C H, CAP! NOW BRING OUR ASSES HOME BEFORE WE KEEP THE LIEN FOR OURSELVES!"

The giggle accompanying the statement only grew louder as the sense of hype swelled throughout her body.

They were done.

Friends.

Us as friends... She thought, her expression remaining frozen as she looked at the floor for a moment. A friend outside of BASL. It felt oddly enticing to know about more and more people, even if she took the smallest of steps to catch up with what was considered to be acceptable behavior in society. She had taken baby steps when she tried to get along with her own team, though they had been the ones who warmed up to her first. They had been nice to her, and she had simply adjusted herself a bit to fit in with them.

A friend outside of her team... It sounded remarkable to have. Although her own team's health would still remain one of her highest priorities to ensure, she easily felt tempted to make friends with others in classes. She had always been a simpleton- a trait that led her to face hardships in the first place.

It just felt odd to be rewarded for being so gullible. It felt wrong, but admittedly satisfying for one who wanted to make at least a handful of friends to keep close to her.

Heat rose to her cheeks as she flushed at the thought of a small dream so bland compared to those ambitious around her. But it was truthfully all she needed. She just wanted people to talk to, and people to know about.

People to care about, just as Luke had told her.

"That..."

Not knowing how else to describe it, the swordswoman cracked an incredibly small smile. It was small- smaller than even her own frown, but it was an expression that differed from her usual idle face. And she smiled because she felt happy. Being more accustomed to emotions slowly let her instincts learn on how to respond, but her smile was not related to simple instincts.

It just came out of her heart. That was all.



"That... would... be an honor... Luke."

She nearly sputtered out "Lube" again, for she almost lost her composure from befriending someone in a middle of a mission. The mission suddenly felt a bit more rewarding than she had thought it would be. There was the money, yes, but she never intended a lot of it for herself. She regarded it as a minor thing over her being able to fight as a huntress, and thought about sharing a portion of her reward with her team- she would have less use for it than them aside from maintaining her weapons, after all. (Hopefully they understood her need for at least some money on looking over her weapons.)

But to befriend someone outside of the family she chose to cherish felt...

Lovely.

With everyone on the lift, they eventually reached the truck. Sangue sat with them this time rather than crashlanding on top of the truck like a doofus. She glanced at Luke, then at Lauren, before turning to the rest of BASL and those who worked hard to fight the Grimm.

She silently glanced at Luke again before turning to the Grimm near them again. She may not be a great friend, but she would certainly try to at least be considered "okay," as people would call it. Perhaps she would ask Lauren, Amy, or Ben to know more about what people aside from them would expect from friends...

Gren Orchid was debating taking a nap when that maiden creature from before came over and started questioning him. Her concern was understandable, he was sent from the firing range to this location in less than five seconds. Anyone going that fast is either very powerful or very wounded. However Gren was neither. Sitting up and dusting himself off Gren assured the maid that he was fine. ”I’m fine, I’m fine. Just a bit of a lightshow.” He saw the maid take out a variety of medical equipment, much to Gren’s surprise. He liked being prepared too, but he couldn’t do open heart surgery on the fly. Her concern did get a chuckle from him. ”Thirteen. And really, I’m fine. You don’t need all of that. Why are you carrying your lug- Oh right. You’re new.”

Thinking about it, he never did give this girl a proper introduction to Beacon. And seeing that this could make for a good chance to introduce himself as well, Gren did his best to clean himself up and put out any fires on his body. ”First, allow me to introduce myself! Gren Orchid, hero for hire, member of Team SASG (Swansong).” Reaching into his pocket Gren handed the maid his business card. ”Welcome to Beacon Academy, home of hunters. If you’re here, then you must be a hunter as well.”

Just then Gren got a message from Shiro. He wanted to hang out with them in the city, pizza and partying. Gren was always up for fun and food. As he was working on a message back to him Gren could actually see Shiro in the distance, talking to a group of girls. It was hard to make out at first, but he actually recognized them as part of Team KESS. Except… He didn’t see Ebon. Perhaps the brooding loner just went his own way. Only for one of the members, who he remembered as Sepia, running off to the bathroom nearby. Yet something seemed more wrong than just a trip to the bathroom.

It seemed like Team KESS just left the airship, but Ebon was missing. Sepia runs into the bathroom immediately despite the airship having perfectly serviceable lavatories. Shiro is here, and he wants to go out for arcade and pizza, possibly with Team Kess. To celebrate a job well done, or to get their minds off a misfortunate, but inevitable part of their career? Gren had no solid clues or answers to these questions, but Gren was nothing if not paranoid. Quickly he started to form a plan in his head before turning back towards the maid. He clapped his hands together and bowed his head towards her as if begging for something. ”I’m sorry to have to ask you this so suddenly, but could you go check up on my friend? She just ran into the bathroom and I don’t think she’s feeling well.”

@Ryonara

Conic blasts of arcane force disabled its right foreleg. Rods of serrated metal ripped into its eyes, turning the world dark. A barrage of bullets riddled it, causing cracks to appear in its bony face, before a deluge of fire swept across its flesh to fill the air with the acrid odor of burning fur. An envenomed saber lacerated exposed flesh again and again. Two bladed sticks, driven by gravity and furious strength, perforated its back. Then came the ultra greatsword Caletfwlch, its steel harmonically resonant with its heroic wielder's own soul, and it sang a ballad of revelation for this grim titan. In all its years of slaughter and destruction the Manticore never came close to this newfound feeling: doom. The shining blade bit deep into its flesh to lodge in the bone, and the monster's mask of wrath lay atop a head half-free of its body. No matter if it somehow found the strength to slay each and every human present, the Manticore would not survive this lethal wound, and of this fact it seemed acutely aware.

Beacon's students would not, of course, allow it to perish passively.

Throughout the entirety of their insertion, the Manticore did not take the slightest note of the lightning pins jammed like acupuncture needles throughout its hide. Grievously wounded, it only shambled from side to side, thrashing weakly, when electricity arced between those plentiful rods. Across its body Jack dashed at a breakneck speed, attacking again and again—a death of a thousand cuts. When the numbness from the bolt shocks set in, and the deprivation of vital fluid thanks to overabundant cuts, the huge beast ceased its thrashing altogether. Finally, the nails in its coffin sailed forth, lead-tipped and rapid-fire from the barrels of Amaranth's weapons. They pierced the flesh of the sad excuse for a neck that remained, and all the while the faunus tied around its neck a noose of steel. In the next instant it was over. Her body weight combined with the might of her leader messily tore the Manticore's head from its body. With all the momentousness of a cathedral bell cut from its rightful place it plummeted toward the earth, and against the unyielding surface of the distillery's main lot it exploded into a cloud of black smoke. Soon after, the rest of the creature, already starting to dissolve, sagged to the earth like a mudslide. The king of the marshlands, terrifying and awe-inspiring in its fearsome majesty...rendered an inert, wretched pile of viscera, and shortly thereafter, dust on the wind.

For the first time in the whole day, a wind whistled through the dingy swampland. It carried away the smells of blood, char, and gunsmoke, and the muggy atmosphere lessened. The last of the inky vapor that had only moment before been a beast of legend slipped away, leaving nothing behind but the destruction it had wrought.

The airship settled down in a leisurely fashion on the lot. When the pilot appeared to stand at the top of the ramp, he was clapping. The other survivors joined in, some cheering or even dancing in joy and relief. At the same time, Goodwitch appeared, having been absent from the remainder of the fight. Though she walked as imperiously as ever, the ever-critical hardness in her eyes was almost imperceptibly smaller, and behind her floated three additional drums of distillery chemicals.

“Not bad, for next to no verbal coordination. Not bad at all...” The enthused shout of Lauren, delivered from the drum-laden truck pulled up not far away, drew her attention. “...Indeed. Despite all odds, it seems your teams have weathered this storm, and come out of the experience richer in wisdom and camaraderie as well as wealth.” She assisted in transferring the drums from the truck to the airship with her semblance. As luck would have it, the total weight of people and property was just less the limit for taking off, though everyone could expect a long ride home. “In light of the results,” Goodwitch commented after the vehicle got underway. “I imagine that this mission will be labeled a 'great success'.” For a moment, she stiffened, then turned back in the passenger seat to face forward. The light of a late afternoon sky, just going to gold, made her blond hair look as though it was glowing. “...Well done.”



Participants:
Benjamin Lloyd, Amaranth Desire, Sangue Naga, Lauren Negasi;
Jack Orpheus, Cian Kuze, Lucas Schwarz

Survivors Rescued: 12
Ally Rescued: Priscilla Montgomery, forming team 'JPCL'
Drums Acquired: 28

Individual Reward: 5 Credits, 2,000 lien each
Bonus reward: 28,000 lien, evenly distributed by mission coordinators to each student
Collective Reward: 5 Credits, 6,000 lien each

Status: Brewing Storm......complete
Great success



In the evening, the following message appeared in both the scrolls and the more rarely-used student e-mail accounts for each of Beacon's hunters-in-training.

To: Student Body
From: Beacon administrative office
Re: Monday's Events

Greetings, students of Beacon. I hope to find you well.

Then again, that may be a bit hasty of me. It cannot be argued that many of the missions undertaken by our students in recent weeks have been unexpectedly heavy. In light of this misfortune, and in the spirit of celebrating your accomplishments, Monday's schedule is going to be different. As the upperclassmen may know, the upcoming Monday is a holiday taken off by most primary academies across Vale, but one that Beacon treats as though it's an ordinary day. Instead of following this rule, Monday will instead be a day off, but one with several school-wide events taking place throughout the day. All students will be able to participate in the events. They are as follows:

9:00 A.M. - meeting at the Beacon outdoors athletic center. Coffee and Shiny D will be available for free, as well as freshly-baked crepes, which have not been served at this school before.
9:45 A.M. - commencement of a race through a newly-renovated special obstacle course. Prizes will be available for first, second, and third place.
1:00 P.M. - the grand debut of Beacon's first 'Stone Cold Showdown' wrestling tournament! Signups will be available at Professor Algernon Fullbuster's desk in the athletic center all morning. Contenders will need to adopt a persona, get psyched, get pumped, and get ready for a full-force throwdown in the ring! The first round, a massive free-for-all, will finish when just four contenders have aura remaining. Two semifinal matches will lead to a grand finals match to declare the champion! No charge for attendance, so make sure to grab a seat! ...Though you'll only need the edge.

One final note: in addition, the entire day also doubles as a 'home-away-from-home' day. The parents of our freshmen will be invited to visit the academy and permitted to stay the whole day.

We hope that every one of you will enjoy this day of leisure, reunion, and friendly competition to the fullest!

-Naranja Valdez

At about the same time, anyone watching television would be treated to the following event:

“We interrupt your regularly scheduled program for a breaking news story. In a stunning turn of events, bystanders called Vale PD to a remarkable scene this morning: not far outside the east side of Vale, a 'battleground' was discovered that appears to have been the location of a large-scale, armed confrontation between the White Fang and the highly-rumored secret organization 'Phantom Force', as revealed by a cryptic clue left on the premises. From the casualties discovered on-site, preliminary findings suggest that whatever kind of presence the White Fang has had in Vale has been seriously diminished. Could this be the first public operation of a group of dangerous criminals working beneath our very noses for all these months? Stay tuned for the full story at eleven.”

Kuhaku Shiro - City of Vale

Shiro blinked, tilting his head as he always did when something confused him or piqued his curiosity. Sepia didn't seem like her usual self. Rather, she seemed anxious and nervous for one reason or another. He was just about to ask her if anything was wrong, but she spouted out something nonsensical and ran past him. An alarm tripped in Shiro's head when she did, his nose catching a scent that triggered an instinctual fight-or-flight response in him. His eyes immediately narrowing into slits as he sniffed at the air again to make sure.

"Was...was that blood?"
Certainly, he knew that it was.
Was she hurt, or was it blood that belonged to someone else?
No, he was sure that that scent was mixed with her's.
Sepia was hurt. Just after returning from her mission too.
"What's she doing here? She should go to the infirmary and seek care! What happened with her Aura?..."
Shiro took a step, just about to take off after her to make sure she was okay.
But as he reached out towards her back as she ran off, just about to call out to her.
A voice from behind him whispered to him, uttering in hushed tones that perhaps that wasn't the best action to take.

Shiro turned, looking behind and around himself. The voice sounded familiar, as if he had heard it before but...Where did it come from? His ears swiveled like mad to see if he could pinpoint their source, frantically trying see whose voice it was that spoke to him. But alas, he couldn't locate the culprit. Frowning, his ears flattened against his head as he remained rooted to the spot. Though he wanted nothing more to chase after his friend and make sure she was doing alright. His Scroll then vibrated twice, and he looked at his jean pockets. Slipping out his Scroll, he saw that he received two responses. One from Abel and the other from Sapphire, surprisingly. Looking up to see where it was that Sepia had gone, he sighed and resigned himself to just messing around on his Scroll for the time being.

From: Kuhaku Shiro
To: Abel Fulgerate @Lugubrious, Gren Orchid @Lucius Cypher, Sapphire Rode @Prince of Seraphs
Subject: RE;RE Arcade and pizza?

"Sure, I'll send the address to you soon Abel. Sorry to hear about that Sapphire, I hope everything goes well. Gren, you still down or are you busy too?"

Shiro frowned, it was rather odd the response he got from Sapphire. Usually she would never give so much 'detail' in her replies. Truthfully, he expected a cold and curt 'No.' But, she was the only member to have a bad experience in their most recent mission. Maybe she was still recovering somewhat. Even still, he didn't push the envelope and ask any further questions. Only honestly wishing the best in whatever she was currently going through. As he finished and sent his response, he went back into the web browser app and pulled up his recent search history of pizzerias to locate the address. After finding it, copying it, he pasted it into a second message and sent it to the group before locking and pocketing his Scroll.

Looking up just in time to see a newly-changed Sepia returning. This time, he wasn't going to heed whatever voices' advice telling him to chill and hang back. Walking over to the rather depressed faunus girl, he placed his bandage-wrapped hand on her shoulder and leaned his face in close to lock in eye-contact. Concerned, he directly and bluntly asked her.

"Hey, boss. You doing okay? You're hurt, aren't you? You should go back to Beacon to get taken care of!"
His tail swayed back and forth anxiously, out of his concern for his friend.
@SevenStormStyle

Yue

Location: Beacon
Activity: Talking some strangers
Thoughts: "A lot of faunas around here..."

Yue was rather surprised to hear the green faunas saying he was okay. He certainly seemed fine physically and mentally, but she wondered how much of it was just him putting on a facade to not make her worry. While she didn't know this person, she was compelled to help. What she didn't expect, however, was for him to suddenly change the subject about his incident to introducing himself to Yue and welcoming her to Beacon. He even gave her a business card, which she put into one of the pockets on her apron. Admittedly she had hoped to find someone who could give her a tour of the school, but before that could begin the faunas asked her for a favor. Apparently one of his friends just went into the bathroom and he wanted Yue to check on her. A normal person might be skeptical and have questions, but that didn't occur to Yue. She simply nodded her head and turned towards the bathrom. "Yes sir."

However before Yue could have gone and checked, a girl walked out from the bathroom. Her clothes seemed tattered and she appeared somewhat wounded. What had happened to her? She was walking towards a group, including two more girls and a white-haired boy. That girl must be the person Gren had mentioned, so Yue picked up her medical equipment, as well as the rest of her luggage, and walked over to the girl. "Excuse me, are you wounded? Please, allow me to tend to your injuries." Yue had a basic first aid kit in her hands, but waited for the girl's permission before Yue would do anything to help her.

@SevenStormStyle@harinezumikouken@Lucius Cypher

Lauren couldn't believe her eyes when the members of Bastille each stopped at the ATM. These big business dudes were quick as cobras when it came to paying off people who did them favors. It wasn't exactly the kind of payday she'd make by selling some white dude a sports car the week before his daughter's sweet sixteen, but hey - this meant she had less to blow within the space of a week or two. Consider not having to pay for her own food or housing, and the paid monster killer gig was a life she could get used to.

Speaking of housing, nothing like being in an amalgamation of all her worst nightmares - a haunted workplace with an all-male hiring quota - to make her long for the simple comforts of BASL's dorm room. So it was Lauren, lugging nearly all of her clothes under one arm, who kicked open the door to their room - and it was Lauren who hit her bed first, throwing a few fifty lien notes into the air and letting them rain down on her with a lewd noise.

"Hey, Amy! Is this what it feels like when your shifts are over?" Lauren sighed contentedly as the rain of bills washed over her again, and seemed for a second to be relaxing after the stressful events of the day...before she sat bolt upright again, scooping up the money in both hands as she did.

"How should we spend it?"

"Lauren, I'm not spending anything tonight. We just got home. Save it for the weekend and we'll talk about-"

"C'moooooooon! I'm not asking you to go out and party with it! We can do white people things with our paychecks, too!"

In one careless move, Lauren had turned her back to her team and cast off her sports bra, reaching under the bed to grab a clean black v-neck from her suitcase and fling it on. After another couple brief seconds, she straightened herself out and turned to face Ben - wearing a mischievous smile and an extraordinarily thick pair of rectangular glasses. Lauren's voice was husky and staccato, in what looked like her best college try at impersonating a math nerd.

"Don't you want to talk about diversifying our portfolios, Captain?" she asked, wrinkling her nose and putting on a shit eating grin. "Roth IRAs get me so hot..."

"Lauren, whose glasses are those?" Ben looked uncomfortable.

"Don't worry about it. We can talk about that after we've discussed this month's gold market." Lauren pushed the glasses up on her nose and chortled, even throwing in a faint goofy snort for good measure. It was clear that she had never actually seen a math nerd in person, but it didn't seem to be stopping her. "You seem like a well-to-do young man. I wouldn't mind showing you my veblen goods--"

"Okay. Okay," Ben said emphatically, trying to be heard over Amy's laughs. "We'll party. For a little while."

Lauren's face split into a beam, and she hung the glasses from the neck of her shirt, knowing that her team leader had no choice but to look.

"Sick nasty! Meetcha at the courtyard in ten, Cap! You're paaaaaayiiiiiiiiing!"

Though it seemed like she was going to sprint out without another word, Lauren skidded to a halt at the door and turned to face her other two teammates. Her eyes found Sangue.

"Sangue...I'd ask you to come, but I don't want my bad habits rubbing off on you and getting you all wasted, sweetie," she said. "Soooo, Cap and I will be back in no time! You babysit Amy, okay? And I'll bring you back some food - anything you're hungry for!"

Krysthane let out a mental sigh. Dang it! She had been too callous about it and totally freaked Sepia out. Before she could say anything to fix it Shiro showed up and Sepia and ran off stuttering about something, leaving Krysthane standing there awkwardly. Well. First impressions totally weren't that big of a deal right? If Shiro was here than his mission and by extension most others were probably finished as well, had they been called back the same way as he team? "Uh yeah, we just got back from a mission. It went kind of south towards the end, we more or less got emergency evacced and one of our teammates is missing in action." She explained nervously as Shiro checked his scroll. Sepia returned remarkably quickly, albeit with head down in embarrassment. Once again before Krysthane had enough time to formulate something to say, Shiro suddenly grabbed her and asked if she was hurt. Was Sepia hurt? Had Krysthane somehow not noticed and Sepia concealed it on the ride here? During the processing of this thought yet another person, someone Krysthane was unfamiliar with, showed up with a first aid kit no less! It seemed everyone was aware that Sepia was injured somehow except Krysthane, who should've known more than anyone! Well waltzing up there and inquiring if she was okay like everyone else would just stress her out more, Sepia didn't need three people asking her the same question. But Krystahne also didn't want to just stand here awkwardly doing nothing as she had so far. "Uh if you need me I'm.. right here." Krysthane said haltingly, her voice trailing off at the end. Why was she so useless all the time!?