It's How You Play the Game

Chapter 14

So a quick correction and apology to all of you. I have been going over my notes and decided that I will not be including DragoKnight Hunter as a possible level for Ex-Aid in this fic due to me not having a good place to fit it in without cramming too many powerups together too soon. I apologize for this.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

It had been a few weeks since the end of Team RWKBY's first semester at Beacon and the team had begun to put the fight at the Docks out of their mind…well, for the most part that is. Blake had closed herself off and spent a lot of her time focusing on studying news reports on White Fang movements, bordering on obsessiveness, and Kazi had been working harder than ever, even pulling a few all-nighters, trying to develop new Gashats for him to use. Also, there was a secret project that he had been rather elusive about when asked.

Currently though, the members of Team RWKBY and JNPR were sitting together sharing a friendly lunch in the cafeteria, well, everyone except Blake, who was pouring over notes she had been taking about the White Fang. As the black-haired Faunus worked, her blond partner sidled up and glanced over her shoulder curiously.

"Whatcha doing?" asked Yang, causing Blake's bow to stand straight up as the girl stiffened in surprise, quickly closing her notebook before her partner could see anything.

"Nothing," said Blake as she put her book away, "just going over notes from last semester."

Yang shrugged as she leaned over and caught a grape that Nora had thrown her way in her mouth, "Lame," she said around the grape.

Ruby then chose that time to arrive carrying a thick binder that had the title: Best Day Ever Activities written on the cover…though Weiss could see the words Vytal Festival Activities, Property of Weiss Schnee crossed out with black sharpie. Slamming the binder down onto the table, she stood tall (tall as she could for her diminutive stature) and spread her hands.

"Sisters, friends, Weiss," began Ruby, getting an angry 'hey!' from said heiress, "Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream."

"This ought to be good," chuckled Yang as she caught another grape.

"I think I've heard that quote somewhere," mused Kazi as he glanced at the leader of Team RWKBY.

"A dream that one day, the four of us will come together, as a team, and have the most fun anyone has ever had…ever!" continued Ruby as Weiss examined the binder.

"Did you steal my binder?" exclaimed Weiss irritably.

"I am not a crook!" said Ruby with a grin as she made peace signs with both hands.

"I swear you stole that line," muttered Kazi.

"Ruby," said Blake, "what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about making the last day of break the best we could possibly make it," said Ruby eagerly, "I'm talking about kicking off this new semester off with a BANG!"

"We could use something like that to end the holidays," mused Kazi, "I'm in for kicking things off with a bang."

"Well I always kick my semesters off with a Yang," quipped Yang, getting several groans and an apple to the head via Nora.

"Look guys," said Ruby, "it's been a good two weeks and between more exchange students arriving and the tournament at the end of the year, our second semester is going to be great!"

"But," she continued as the she slammed her hands onto the table, "classes start back up tomorrow! Which is why I've taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us today!"

"I don't know whether to be proud or scared of what you have planned," said Weiss as she edged her seat back a bit.

"Meh, I'm going for a bit of both," shrugged Kazi, getting a pout from his Team leader.

"I don't know," said Blake hesitantly as Yang and Nora continued their duel of foods with an apple tossed at the orange-haired hammer wielder, "I think I might sit this one out."

"Sit out or not, I think that, however we spend this last day, we should do it as a Team," said Weiss.

"Never thought I'd hear you talking about team bonding," quipped Kazi, "Ruby must really be rubbing off on you, Ice Queen."

"Oh be quiet!" snapped Weiss.

"And that's more what I expect," chuckled Kazi.

"What I'm trying to say…" Weiss began, but she was cut off when a cream pie hit her in the face. Wiping the cream off her face, she glared over at Team JNPR where a sheepish Nora was pointing at Ren in an attempt to shift blame, "Ruby," she said calmly.

"Yes Weiss?" asked Ruby.

"I believe I have thought up a marvelous way to kick off our Best Day Ever," said Weiss.

"I'm right there with you," said Ruby with a smirk as she rose to her feet.

"Aw yeah, it's on!" smirked Yang as she stood as well.

"I guess there are worse things we could be doing," said Kazi as he got up and cracked his knuckles.

"Seriously?" asked Blake, "We're really doing this?"

"They attacked one of our own!" declared Ruby passionately, "We must not let this act of war go unanswered!"

"Oh, so it's war that you want?" laughed Nora as she leapt to her feet, "C'mon guys, let's show them who's boss!"

"I'll have you know, I was king of food fights back home," said Jaune as the rest of his team rose as well.

"Well, there are worse ways to start the year," shrugged Blake as the two Teams faced off.

Nora let out a smirk before slamming her foot into the ground and knocking Team RWKBY off their feet as the tables flew into the air, landing in a pile behind her group as the food rained down around them. With a backflip, Nora landed atop the pile and began laughing maniacally.

"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" sang Nora as the remaining students fled from the cafeteria, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire.

"Justice will be swift!" cried out Ruby as she held up a fist, "Justice will be painful! It will be DELICIOUS!"

"YEAH!" cheered the rest of Team RWKBY as they threw up their fists.

"Off with their heads!" declared Nora as she leapt down from her perch and her and her Team began lobbing a multitude of watermelons at Team RWKBY, kicking off the beginning of this Food Fight.

"Yang, Turkey!" ordered Ruby, causing her blond sister to dash forward and stuff her fists into two roast turkeys, using them as substitutes for her normal weapons as she shattered the incoming melons with powerful punches.

As the blond brawler bashed her way through the incoming fruit, Blake dashed forward with a roll and grabbed two baguettes to use as weapons, just as Yang launched the turkeys she was wielding at Pyrrha. The crimson-haired gladiator dodged the incoming poultry, though that left her partner to take the blows, and grabbed a baguette of her own, entering into a duel of bread-weapons with Blake as the two fighters tried to overpower the other.

While this was happening, Jaune managed to pull himself to his feet and grabbed several tomatoes and began lobbing them at the only male member of Team RWKBY. Kazi proved though that he was not to be taken easily as he grabbed a metal serving tray and used it as a shield to block the flying fruit, before flinging said tray at the blond knight like a discus, forcing Jaune to dodge to the side and narrowly avoid getting nailed. Kazi wasn't done however as he reached out at the rebounding tray and used his Semblance to call it back into his grip in time throw it out again, catching Jaune right in the temple before calling it back to his grip again, just barely using it to block several cookies Ren threw like shuriken.

It was at this time that Ruby grabbed a tray of her own and began using it to powerslide across the tables, dodging projectiles thrown by the other Team, before leaping up to slam the bottom of the tray into Pyrrha as she broke her deadlock with Blake, knocking her back several steps as Nora and Ren rush forward.

The two friends charged Ruby, but Weiss got between them and sprayed a mist of ketchup onto the floor, causing the green clad teen to slip while the Orange-haired berserker leapt up towards a flagpole that was sticking out from the wall and grabbed onto it, ripping it out of the wall and stabbing it downwards into another melon, creating a makeshift hammer that she hefted with a menacing smirk.

Weiss slid forward on the ketchup slick, not losing her momentum as she grabbed a large swordfish, and, holding said fish like she would her Myrtenaster, engaged the melon-hammer wielding girl with a flurry of blows. Weiss fought hard and put up a good fight, but was defeated when a powerful blow from Nora sent her flying back, stopping when she slammed into a pillar that shattered from the force. Seeing the large stone fragments falling toward her partner, Ruby activated her Semblance and shot forward, snatching Weiss out of the air and landing safely on the ground.

"Weiss," said Ruby as she cradled her partner's prone form in her arms, "don't leave me! NOOOOOOO!"

While her Team leader was grieving, Yang rushed forward and grabbed two more turkeys and engaged Ren, who had grabbed two leeks and was using them as weapons as well. The green clad teen put up a good fight as he traded attacks with the blond brawler, but Yang's strength broke through as she sent him airborne with a powerful uppercut. Ren was able to make a quick recovery though, throwing the vegetables in his hand with enough force to embed the tips onto the ground, narrowly missing Yang as she leapt up to dodge, the blond brawler putting the green ninja out of the fight when she slammed a punch into him that sent him crashing to the ground, leaving a large crater in the cement.

Upon seeing her partner go down, Nora rushed at Yang, rearing back her makeshift hammer for a powerful blow, with Yang doing the same with her turkey-clad fist. As the two combatants weapons drew closer, the superior reach of Nora's hammer proved to be the deciding factor as her weapon made contact first, hitting Yang with a blow so powerful that it not only smashed the melon to pieces, but it sent the blond flying through the roof and up into the sky above Vale.

Blake managed to recover at that point and grabbed a string of sausages that she swung around her like a weighted chain, slamming the meat into the now disarmed Nora and sending her flying back into several soda machines that had piled up. As she got to her feet, Nora grabbed several of the soda cans that had spilled out and lobbed them at the black-haired Faunus, causing them to explode upon impact with the ground, spraying soda everywhere.

Seeing his teammate and fellow Faunus in trouble, Kazi called another two serving trays to his hands and used them to guard against the soda cans she was flinging before throwing one like a discus, nailing Nora in the head just like he had with her Team leader, knocking her to the ground. Pyrrha, seeing this, reached out with her Semblance and managed to catch the metal tray just as Kazi was calling it back to his hand, beginning a duel of Semblances as the two students tried to overpower the other. Suddenly, Pyrrha smiled and released her hold on the metal tray causing the object in question to shoot at Kazi, pulled by his overtaxed Semblance, catching the teen off guard and knocking him out of the fight when the tray slammed into him at high speed.

Seeing that Nora wasn't having much luck with Blake, Pyrrha then slammed her hand down into a puddle of soda, channeling her Semblance through the liquid on the ground and into the many soda cans lying across the ground, using her polarity control to lift them off the ground and hurl them at the Cat Faunus in a wave of explosive metal cans, drenching Blake in the soda as she was knocked to the ground with her teammates.

Seeing that the rest of her Team was down, Ruby faced down Team JNPR and got into a crouch before activating her Semblance and shooting forward, creating a tailwind that picked up the fallen soda cans, food items, plates, and utensils, pulling them behind her as the girl dashed at Team JNPR. Said Team got into wary stances as they watched her rapidly close the distance and couldn't help but gulp as Ruby leapt into the air without losing her momentum, twisting her body as she shot at them, transforming the tailwind behind her into a cyclone of food products that chased after her.

Ruby shot past and slid to a stop in front of a wall, the force behind her run creating a crater in the wall in front of her, before leaping out of the way as the food vortex caught up, slamming Team JNPR against the wall as they were barraged by the contents of Ruby's food twister, painting them and the wall they were stuck against a rainbow of colors, making it resemble a modern art project as JNPR peeled themselves off the wall.

"Game Clear," groaned Kazi from the ground, getting a giggle from Ruby.

Suddenly the doors slammed open and a very irate Glynda walked in, a scowl on her face. Waving her riding crop sharply, the Huntress used her Semblance to repair all the damage done to the room by the Food Fight. Broken tables flew through the air and put themselves back together, landing back in their original spots as dishes and utensils were restored and stacked neatly.

"Children," ground out Glynda, "please, do not play with your food!"

The teens looked sheepish and apologetic, but all that was shattered when Yang came crashing down through the ceiling, landing on one of the newly fixed tables and causing them all to bust out laughing.

Glynda was about to reprimand them all, but was stopped when a calming hand was placed on her shoulder.

"Let it go," said Ozpin in a kind but firm voice.

"They're supposed to be the defenders of the world," sighed Glynda in a frustrated tone.

"And they will be," acknowledged Ozpin as he watched the group of laughing teens, "but for now they're still children. So why not let them enjoy that."

"After all," he said as he turned away with a grim expression, "it isn't a role they'll have forever."

xXsceneXx

Meanwhile, in an old warehouse being used as a base of operations for the White Fang, two teens, one, a girl with mint green hair and dark skin wearing a revealing outfit, and the other a boy with grey hair wearing a matching grey and black outfit, walked in, catching the attention of Roman Torchwick as he looked over some maps.

"Oh look," he said with false cheer as he pulled them into a sarcastic group hug, "she sent the kids! This is turning out just like the divorce."

"Ugh," grunted the girl as she pulled away, "spare us the thought of you procreating."

"That was a joke," Roman deadpanned as he pulled out a paper he had swiped from the girl's pocket and waved it mockingly, "but this might tell me where you've been all day."

"Wait, what?!" exclaimed the girl as she patted her pockets down.

"I'm a professional, sweetheart," said Roman condescendingly, "pay attention. You might learn something. Why do you have this address?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," sneered the girl.

"Actually, I would," said Roman, "Now where have you been all day?"

"Cleaning up your problems," snapped the boy.

"I had that under control," ground out Roman angrily.

"Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale said otherwise," countered the boy.

"Listen, you little punk," snapped Roman,
if it were up to me, then I would take you and your little street rat friend here and..."

"Do what, Roman?" asked a cold voice from behind the crook, causing him to turn and see Cinder Fall descending on a mechanized lift.

"…not kill them?" finished Roman sheepishly.

"I thought I made it clear that you would eliminate the would-be runaway," said Cinder coolly as she walked up to the criminal, her heels making a clinking sound on the metal floor.

"I was going to…" began Roman before the mint haired girl cut him off.

"He was going to escape to Vacuo!" said the girl, "Mercury and I decided to take it upon ourselves to kill the rat!"

"Quiet," snapped Cinder, "Did I not specifically instruct you two to keep your hands clean while in Vale?"

"I just thought…" said the girl meekly.

"Don't think, obey," said Cinder coldly.

"Yes ma'am," said the girl, "it won't happen again."

"And you," continued Cinder as she turned to Roman, "why wasn't this job done sooner?"

"Uh, eh?" asked Roman as he waved his arms to emphasize the mountain of crates of stolen Dust that filled the warehouse, "I've been a bit busy stealing every speck of Dust in the Kingdom!"

"Every speck huh?" said a voice from behind Roman, causing him to stiffen…well, that and the claws now tracing his jugular, "Cause I know a few shops in downtown Vale that would say otherwise."

"Damn bastard," muttered Roman as Kaito retracted his claws and walked to stand beside Cinder, his Gashacon Bugvisor on his wrist. "look, I've got this town running scared! Police camping out at every corner, Dust prices through the roof, and we're sitting pretty on an old warehouse with more Dust crystals, vials, and rounds than we know what to do with! Speaking of which, if you guys wouldn't mind filling me in on your grand master plan, it might actually make my next string of robberies go a little smoother!"

"I told you," said Kaito as he reached into a pocket on his hoodie, "if we tell you what the plan is, then I'll have to kill you. Now if you really want to know, then I'd be happy to oblige."

Roman scowled and leveled a glare at the Faunus, causing him to smirk.

"By the way," he said as he pulled his hand out of his pocket, said hand holding a wallet in it, "I think this is yours."

"You're good," Kaito said as he tossed the wallet back to Roman, "but I'm better."

"I had Lien in here!" Roman protested as he checked the wallet and found it empty, causing the mint haired girl to laugh at Roman's misfortune.

"Enough," said Cinder, "Roman, have this building cleared. We will be moving. I shall update you with coordinates tonight."

"Oh?" asked Roman curiously.

Nodding, Cinder smirked as she turned away from the crook and began to walk off, "We're moving to the next phase."