Remnant's new ACE hunter

Chapter 11: Wrapping up part 3: Loose ends

…

"Qrow where are the keys!?" Taiyang demanded as he got into the driver's seat of a bright yellow luxury car. Well, at least it's in my color

"Don't have them. I hot wired it." Qrow said from the passenger seat while making sure his weapon was full on ammo.

"Man, Glynda is gonna kill us." Taiyang commented as he stepped on the gas pedal. The yellow vehicle sped out the underground garage door, soon reaching the surface streets of Mistral.

"Pretty much." Qrow said before draining his flask of liquid courage. "Alright, let's get this son of a bitch."

…

"... Ace sounds very much like a jerk right now." Pyrrha commented.

"You gotta understand. He's been told he'd be better off dead for his whole life." Ruby said, causing Yang to nod in agreement.

"Yeah, he may be a jerk right now but trust me he'll chill out later. For now, Luffy just kinda has to persevere through it." Yang said.

"I see, yet that begs the question of why Luffy is so dead set on befriending someone as abrasive as Ace."

"Because Luffy doesn't have anyone else." Ruby answered with a shrug of her shoulders.

…

"I gotta say, for a piece of dirty human scum you're a pretty good fighter." Satin said as he casually ducked under a sword swing courtesy of Ace. The red eyed boy growled in frustration as he readjusted his grip and slashed upwards, only for Satin to easily step away from the large piece of metal death.

"Go to Hell." Ace said as he suddenly raised his pistol and fired an entire clip at Satin. The White Fang boss hummed absentmindedly as he weaved through the flying projectiles. While he and Ace were fighting, the two conscious White Fang members were dutifully carrying out their orders, carrying their comrades out of the basement.

"Hold still!" Ace cursed as he dropped his empty pistol and readied himself for a sword lunge.

"Not a chance you human pile of feces!" Satin called back

…

"Shit!" Taiyang cursed as he swerved out of the way of a large explosion courtesy of the gun on Saul's ride.

"Hold the damn car steady!" Qrow barked while his torso was halfway out the window. He aimed the gun form of his weapon and opened fire. All around them was smoldering wreckages of buildings that had been caught in the crossfire. Any civilians in the area had long since fled the destruction.

"Qrow that gun of yours isn't doing jack!" Taiyang called out while watching Qrow's ammunition disperse against the armored truck.

"Then get me close-gah!" Qrow yelled as a shell zoomed right by him and exploded in the building behind him.

"Qrow we have to take care of that stupid cannon!" Taiyang yelled over the roar of gunfire and engines.

"I can't do precision shooting with a shotgun!" Qrow replied.

"Do your bird thing!" Taiyang frantically said as he made a sharp turn.

"Fine, but never call it my 'bird thing' ever again!" Qrow called back. The veteran huntsman jumped out of the window. He seemed to fade into the dark briefly before suddenly emerging as a crow. The small bird flew as fast as it could, eventually hovering above the turret. In another instance of fading into the dark, Qrow turned back into his human form, sword in hand. Using the momentum of his fall, Qrow spun around and severed the turret in two. Unfortunately, he neglected to account for the speed of the armored car. Though he had planned to land on his feet, Qrow ended up coming short as the enemy car sped ahead of him. In an effort to avoid grinding into the street below, Qrow jammed his sword into the armored car. With his sword firmly stuck in the armor plate, Qrow held on for dear life as the truck swerved down the street.

"Great, just great." Taiyang muttered as he watched Qrow flail in the wind. Before Taiyang could properly voice his frustrations at his partner, the armored car was suddenly illuminated by a spotlight. Looking out the car, Taiyang groaned when he saw multiple helicopters in the air.

…

"... so Bluejam was actually a bad guy all along?" Pyrrha asked in surprise.

"I know right? He seemed like an okay dude." Ruby responded.

"Anyways, so there Ace was, fire all around him as he faced down Bluej-" Yang was cut off.

"Uh, girls? You may want to come see this." Pyrrhic called from downstairs. The three friends exchanged confused glances before wandering into the living room. Pyrrhic looked like she was torn between amusement, concern, and annoyance.

"Yes, mother?" Pyrrha asked. Pyrrhic simply pointed at the TV.

"Good evening I'm Jay Jasmine. Violence has erupted along Shiom Avenue in what appears to be a high speed car chase. I'll now hand it over to my colleague Simon."

"Thanks Jay. I'm currently reporting from the Channel Chopper and boy is this something. As far as we can tell the vehicles involved are the black truck with what appears to be half a cannon on its roof and the bright yellow Maserati." On the screen appeared live footage of the car chase. "Oddly enough, there appears to be a grown man hanging off the back of the armored truck." The video zoomed in and, sure enough, someone seemed to be hanging on for dear life.

"That's something you don't see everyday." Pyrrha murmured.

"What happened to a discreet and stealthy operation?" Yang commented to no one in particular.

…

"Get them on the phone. I want them on the phone. Get them on the phone right now!" Glynda snapped at an attendant while watching the news.

…

"Missed me~" Satin cheered while dodging a sword slash. Ace used the momentum of the swing to flow into a downwards strike. Satin dodged at the last second, the tip of the blade just barely missing his nose.

"You know, when people fight it's usually common courtesy to fight back." Ace said as stuck his zanbato into the ground. The red eyed boy pulled out his knife, now favoring striking speed over power.

"True, but that only applies to actual people. Homo sapien sacks of shit like you don't deserve to be treated like people." Satin said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Ace didn't bother responding. Instead, he charged Satin and attempted to slash his torso. Satin leaned back just enough for the blade to pass by harmlessly. Ace quickly slashed again, and again, and again. Yet, for all of Ace's effort, Satin was dodging as if it were second nature to him.

"What are you, a chicken faunus?" Ace said, trying to provoke Satin.

"Seriously? That's the best thing you could come up with?" Satin responded in annoyance while sidestepping a punch. "Here, since you're floundering, let me give you a little secret. There's a reason I can dodge every one of your attacks." Satin jumped over Ace, landing a good distance away. "Anything else and I'd be monologuing, so that's it for now." Satin said with a chuckle. Ace didn't respond. Instead he opted for more attacks.

…

"Glynda I don't have time to talk right now!" Taiyang yelled into his scroll while steadily getting closer to the armored truck and Qrow. He noticed the news chopper following them back away, unable to handle the flying debris and shrapnel going everywhere.

"Do you realize all the problems you've just caused for us!?" Glynda scorned from her scroll.

"I know! We fucked up! I get it!" Taiyang responded, pushing the gas pedal further down than it already was.

"Do you!? Do you really!? If word gets out Ozpin was involved there'll be Hell to pay for all of us!"

"Do you want me to catch this guy or not!?"

"Yes!"

"Then shut up and let me do my job!" Taiyang snapped before hanging up. Far back in his mind, Taiyang knew that he had screwed up. No one snapped at Glynda like he did and got away with it. Small tendrils of fear began cementing themselves in Taiyang.

…

"Missed me!" Satin cheered as he jumped from pillar to pillar.

"FIght me!" Ace called out while shooting his pistol at the blur that was Satin. Every single shot missed, much to Ace's chagrin.

"What's wrong? Why don't you use your little fire trick against me?" Satin taunted while balancing on a pipe. Ace scowled as flames began flickering at his shoulders, ready to be released at a moment's notice. "Ah ah ah! Burn too much and you'll light up all the munitions here~" Satin taunted while pointing to the crates full of guns and ammo.

"I hate you, you know that?" Ace said as the fire on his shoulders withered away.

"Of course you do you racist piece of septic storage!"

"I don't even know what that means!" Ace called out before closing the distance between him and Satin. The White Fang higher up merely smiled, casually dodging a round of ammunition courtesy of Ace. The red eyed boy jumped onto the pipe Satin was on, knife at the ready.

"Alright, I'll admit, for a pathetic human, you're pretty good at fighting. I think you've earned the right to get beaten black and blue." Satin said before raising a leg in preparation.

"I'm gonna beat that top hat right off you." Ace said before charging.

…

"Ram the truck!" Qrow yelled over the sound of roaring wind and engines.

"What!?" Taiyang called out in shock.

"You don't have a weapon Tai! Now ram the damn thing!" Qrow shouted back. Taiyang, realizing he had no other way to stop the armored truck, turned his aura to his max before pushing the gas pedal as far down as it would go. The yellow car accelerated at rapid speed, quickly closing the distance between it and the truck.

"Ah!" Taiyang called ou as the car and truck met in a storm of broken glass and crunching metal. Thrown off balance, the armored truck swerved violently, unintentionally giving Qrow moderate whiplash. Tires screeched in a desperate effort to stop, yet were unable to do anything. The armored truck rammed into a large tree on the side of the road, mangling the vehicle even further.

"Qrow! You okay?" Taiyang called as he stepped out of the car, mostly undamaged thanks to his aura, though it was running low now. Qrow stumbled out from behind the wrecked truck, hand holding the side of his head.

"I think I'm going to throw up."

"Save it for later." Taiyang said while examining the truck. "I don't think the doors are gonna open. Qrow?" Without hesitation Qrow took his sword and slashed through the back doors of the armored truck. Both Huntsmen peered inside the totalled vehicle. Groan of pain and disorientation escaped the truck as Taiyang reached in and started pulling lackeys out.

"If you know it's good for you you'll stay down." Qrow said to the small group of criminals.

"There you are you little scrub." Taiyang muttered as he reached towards the passenger seat and hauled Saul out of it. The mob boss, having been seated in front was worse off than his subordinates.

"I think my arm is broken." Saul groaned.

"You'll live." Taiyang snapped, shoving Saul to his knees. Qrow pulled his scroll out and speed dialed their ride out of there.

"Glynda? You can pick us up now." Qrow said into his scroll.

"We're almost there. And Qrow?"

"Yeah?"

"All the damage you caused is coming out of both your paychecks." Glynda said while imagining the look on Qrow's face. It almost made her laugh.

"Wait wha-" Too late. Glynda had hung up. "Hey Tai?"

"Yeah?" Taiyang said while looking in the truck for anything else important.

"What does your savings account look like?"

…

"GOD DAMMIT STAND STILL!" Ace yelled in rage as Satin neatly weaved through his attacks. I can't hit him at all

"No thanks." Satin said before snapping his leg upwards and kicking Ace's chin. He stumbled, momentarily dazed. His attacks are so fast, Ace's dazed mind thought as he struggled to refocus. Ace threw a punch, but Satin sidestepped the attack like it was nothing. The Faunus kicked Ace's side, sending him skidding towards a wall. In an instant Satin appeared in front of Ace, his knee driving itself into Ace's chest. The wall cracked behind the former pirate, such was the force of the blow. Not just fast. Powerful too, Ace thought as he slid down to the floor.

'Okay, I'll admit it. That one hurt." Ace said, slowly getting back up. He felt is chest flare in pain, but he'd had worse. He could tolerate it easily enough.

"You're one tough human I'll give you that." Satin said, his smile never leaving his face.

"The thought of getting my hands on you is keeping me going." Ace joked. Whether I can actually do that is a different question entirely.

"I know that wasn't supposed to sound wrong, but wow." Satin retorted.

"Can we fight now?" Ace asked. If I can just find a way to get a grip on him, then his dodging wouldn't even be a problem.

"Thought you'd never ask." WIth that, they charged each other once more. Ace was at an immediate disadvantage, landing none of his attacks. Satin, on the other hand, might as well have been kicking a punching bag. For every punch Ace threw, Satin landed multiple kicks. Ace could feel his aura protesting with every blow. I'm lucky I'm really durable. Otherwise I'd have caved in a while ago, Ace thought while narrowly ducking under a kick. It was an exercise in futility though. Satin brought up his other foot and kneed Ace's chin. Satin then kicked Ace's side, sending the former pirate into the already damaged wall again. Here it comes, Ace thought to himself.

Within a second, Satin appeared in front of Ace, knee buried in his chest. Ace's aura flared in protest before disappearing in its entirety. Black dots began to form around the edges of his vision. The cracks in the wall deepened, chunks of wall beginning to break off. Satin's smile grew bigger, confident in his victory. However, that smile disappeared when Ace looked up at him, a feral smirk adorning his face.

"Gotcha bitch." Ace said before wrapping his arm around Satin's leg. Ace pushed forward and threw Satin off balance. As Satin fell to the floor, Ace raised his elbow while at the same time rearing his knee. Moments later he crushed Satin's upper leg between his elbow and knee. The faunus hissed in pain, his aura flaring at the sudden strike. To Satin's credit, he counterattacked immediately, using his free leg to kick the back of Ace's head. The former pirate, no longer protected by his aura, saw stars as he began to fall forward. Seeing an opportunity, Satin delivered a surprise punch to Ace's face, yet the huntsman in training did not let go of his leg. Ace countered with his own punch.

Satin used his free leg to knee Ace's side, but all he got for his efforts was another painful elbow strike on his trapped leg. Ace didn't stop. He continued to punish Satin's leg, ignoring all the blows Satin was throwing in retaliation.

"How the hell are you not feeling this?" Satin demanded, holding back a scream as Ace hit his leg again.

"I'm very stubborn." Ace answered in between hits. Satin didn't bother responding, opting instead for another kick. I'm gonna have a lot of bruises tomorrow, Ace thought as he felt the attack land on his hip area. Ignoring the pain, Ace reared back and smashed his fist into Satin's leg, a loud crack echoing across the room.

"Gah!" Satin cried out, his aura briefly flashing before disappearing. That should do it, Ace thought with relief as he let go of Satin's leg and jumped out of range. The faunus slowly got up, but stumbled when he tried to put any weight on his injured leg.

"Good luck fighting with that handicap."

"I only need one leg to crush you."

"Really? Without your aura? Cause I've got this big sword, and I doubt you'll be able to dodge it this time." Ace said, picking up the large blade in question.

"I think I'll take my chances." Satin said while crouching.

"What about this gun? I don't think you can shrug off bullets anymore." Ace said while holding up his pistol.

"You can't have much ammo left." Satin retorted, refusing to back down.

"You'd be right if it was anyone else besides me. I can make my own ammo. Indefinitely." Ace said while making a finger gun, the tip flaring into a small flame.

"Remember what I said? You'd blow up the place if you tried using fire."

"Honestly I don't really care anymore. I'm tired and everything hurts. The sooner this ends the better. If that means blowing everything up, then that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. It's not like I'll die. I'm fireproof. The most I'll get is some ringing ears and maybe a headache. You'll probably die though." Ace nonchalantly said.

"You're bluffing." Satin said, though more concerned than before.

"Eh, your belief isn't really a factor here." Ace said without a care of the world. He had good reason to. There weren't any civilians in the club. They probably left as soon as the explosions outside started, Ace thought to himself. Satin didn't know this, but Ace's haki, even as inexperienced as it was, could tell that the building was mostly empty, save for some injured thugs upstairs.

"I can't tell if you're joking, and that worries me." Satin said, only half joking. Once again he tried putting weight on his leg, but hissed as pain shot through it.

"Wanna live or not?" Ace asked, eyebrow raised. They stared at each other, neither making a move.

"Kid, you drive a hard bargain." Satin finally said, motioning for one of his faunus grunts to help him move.

"Wait."

"What?"

"Gimme your mask." Ace said.

"What?"

"And your hat too." Satin looked at him in disbelief, for once brought speechless.

"Why?"

"I promised I'd get some souvenirs."

"You're either very brave or very stupid, kid." Satin said, laughter beginning to set in.

"My name's not kid." Ace said out of annoyance. The faunus smiled, leaning on his white fang subordinate.

"No, guess it's not." He said. A second later Ace caught a hat and mask thrown at his face. He looked up to see Satin's unobstructed face and head. The faunus did his best attempt at a bow, his leg impeding him. Brown rabbit ears drooped over his head, free of their hat confine.

"Satin Scarletina, at your service."

…

"I don't think dad and uncle Qrow are gonna get out of this one scot free." Ruby said, watching the path of chaos the car chase had been on through the TV.

"Well no duh. They're in deep shit." Yang said with an eye roll.

"I'm telling dad you swore."

"Go ahead, he can't do jack. This stunt he pulled gives me immunity to pretty much anything I do." Yang said with a shrug of her shoulders.

…

"... and then they left." Ace said into his scroll.

"Did you seriously ask a White Fang member for their mask?" Qrow asked on the other side.

"Also his hat." Ace reminded.

"And his hat."

"Yeah, I promised souvenirs. Plus they're pretty cool. Yang and Ruby are gonna love them." He said, glancing at his collected items.

"You're on the roof already, right?" Qrow asked.

"Yeah. Lugging that sword up the stairs is a lot harder than bringing it down."

"Good, we're almost there. Look for the airship in the sky."

…

"Glynda, we really didn't mean for this to spiral so out of control." Taiyang said, barely able to contain his fear.

"And yet you made a spectacle of yourselves back there. You're lucky that we can blame this on the White Fang." Glynda snapped, her grip on her riding crop tightening.

"The White Fang is the entire reason this went South so fast. We weren't expecting them to be in Mistral." Qrow added after taking a swig of his flask.

"In that you do have a point. Ever since Sienna Khan took over the White Fang has gotten far more aggressive. We didn't think they'd reached Mistral so fast." Glynda conceded.

"Well they did, and we put a stop to a pretty big arms deal they were doing. You're welcome." Ace, now wrapped in gauze and bandages, said.

"Don't get smart with me young man. The fact I don't confiscate that mask and hat should be thanks enough." She snapped, causing Ace to put a protective arm around his loot.

"Don't touch my stuff." Ace warned.

"Is Ozpin gonna be in any hot water?" Taiyang asked, absentmindedly picking up Ace's top hat.

"Thankfully no. The news couldn't identify either of you due to you being obstructed by the car windows and Qrow staying largely out of the public eye. As far as anyone knows, you were just two Huntsman who happened to be nearby and wanted to help stop that man."

"That's a relief. I'd feel guilty if I got Ozpin in trouble." Taiyang said.

"I wouldn't." Qrow said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Shut up Qrow." Taiyang said while elbowing his partner. Glynda silently watched the pair bicker, her exasperation growing by the minute. Eventually, she had reached her limit.

"Okay I'm done dealing with you. It's been a long night and I'd like to get some rest. We can wrap up this discussion once you return to Vale.' Glynda said while rubbing her eyes.

"Sure thing. Good ni-morning, Glynda." Taiyang said while glancing at his scroll. We could probably get a couple hours of sleep in before going to pick up the girls, Taiyang thought to himself. Glynda waved in acknowledgement before moving to the cockpit section of the airship.

"Can we go get some sleep now?" Ace asked.

"You're tired?" Taiyang asked in surprise.

"Kinda. I got the shit kicked out of me tonight." Ace said while gesturing to the bruises forming on his body.

"Aren't you supposed to not get tired?" Qrow asked.

"I could probably go without sleep for the rest of today if I needed to. Doesn't mean I want to, though. I'm not a masochist." Ace said.

"Fair point." Qrow conceded. The airship lurched slightly before Glynda poked her head in the cargo bay.

"We're above your hotel. It's gonna be a short fall to the roof, but I'm sure it's nothing you can't handle." Glynda said.

"What do we so with this guy?" Taiyang asked while gesturing to the tied up mob boss on the floor.

"Leave him. We'll deal with it." Glynda said while waving dismissively.

"Cool. See you in Vale." Taiyang said before opening the door and jumping into the night sky, quickly followed by Ace and Qrow. The young Huntsman in training made sure to keep a firm grip on his souvenirs.

…

"Hey, did you see Ace at all?" Ruby asked, causing Yang to furrow her brow.

"Now that you mention it, I only saw Qrow and dad. Maybe he was in the yellow car too?" Yang proposed.

"I do not think that is likely. Ace seems like the kind of person who would be on the truck with Qrow." Pyrrha chimed in.

"That does sound like Ace."

"Well, I'm sure he had his reasons. It's getting late and I think we should turn in for the night." Pyrrhic said. Almost on cue Ruby yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"Yeah, I could use some shut-eye." Ruby said, already moving towards the stairs. "Gotta be well rested for tomorrow. Well, today technically."

"Alright, night Ms. Nikos." Yang said.

"Good night mother." Pyrrha added before all three girls went to her room.

"So, how much trouble you think they're in?" Yang asked once the door to Pyrrha's room had been closed.

"Enough that dad'll be stressed for the next couple weeks. Not enough that it'll affect us." Ruby sleepily guessed.

"That's a pretty safe bet. A lot of stuff got blown up out there. Then again, stuff tends to blow up around our family." Yang said while getting into her sleeping bag.

"Can I ask a question?" Pyrrha's ventured from her bed.

"Less talky more sleep." Ruby muttered, halfway off to Dreamland.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Pyrrha said, putting her hands over her mouth.

"Ruby go to sleep. What's on your mind, Pyrrha?" Yang said.

"Do you ever feel jealous?" The prodigy asked. Yang's mind briefly went blank. Then, it went into assumption overdrive.

"Could you be more specific?" Yang calmly asked, careful not to give anything away.

"Well, Qrow, Taiyang, and Ace went on an epic struggle against a crime Lord tonight. I suppose I'm asking if you ever feel left out?" Pyrrha carefully asked. Oh, so that's what she meant.

"I'm not really sure. They let Ace go cause he's super good at fighting, and he would have gone on his own if they didn't let him. Dad didn't let me go cause he doesn't wanna see me get hurt. And I get that, you know? I'm good, but I'm not you or Ace good. Something like what they pulled today? I don't think I'd come out of that in one piece." Yang said, staring at the ceiling.

"I'm sensing a 'but' here." Pyrrha quietly said.

"But it still hurts a little, I guess. Feels like I'm being told I'm not good enough." Yang admitted with a sigh. "Honestly, I don't think I would have minded as much if Ace hadn't gone. If it was just dad and uncle Qrow, I'd feel a lot better. But, the moment they let Ace go I felt worse. He's stubborn and hot headed and accident prone. I know he can handle himself, but he's like a magnet for injuries. It stresses me out thinking what might happen to him." She tightly gripped her sleeping bag as memories of past injuries came to mind.

"That sounds more like worry than jealousy."

"Yeah, that makes sense. I get worried when I'm not there with him. We're a team, y'know? Gotta watch each other's backs and all that. But how are we supposed to do that when one half of the team can't keep up? It's frustrating."

"Have you talked to Ace about this?" Pyrrha asked.

"No, not really. I mean I haven't felt this way until recently. Before now I never really considered stuff like this. It was so cool being best friends with Ace. We'd breeze by school and adventure afterwards. I never really paused to think about any of this until the whole tournament fiasco." Yang muttered.

"You should talk to him. I don't think he's the kind of guy to brush off your worries." Pyrrha suggested.

"Thanks Pyrrha. I might just do that." Yang said, giving her friend a small smile.

"For what it's worth, I don't think you're slowing him down at all." Pyrrha said, reaching over and putting a supportive hand on Yang's shoulder. She patted the hand before sighing loudly

"Oum Pyrrha, sleepovers aren't supposed to be so introspective. You really hit me with a doozy of a question there." Yang said while laughing.

"I'm sorry! Making you uncomfortable was not my intention." Pyrrha quickly said

"Who said I'm uncomfortable? It felt kind of nice to vomit out my problems. Awkward, but nice. For someone who's never gone to one, you throw one hell of a sleepover." Pyrrha felt herself swell with happiness.

"Really? That's wonderful! I'm so glad you enjoyed your time here."

"Totally. Thing is, I'm not really sleepy anymore. All that deep stuff kind of gave me a second wind."

"I concur. Rest isn't as inviting anymore. Neither is sitting silently in a dark room." Pyrrha said while glancing around her bedroom.

"... wanna play games on our scrolls?" Yang suggested.

"That sounds like fun." She responded as both huntresses in training reached for their scrolls. Pyrrha scooched over and patted the spot next to her. Now comfortably seated, they happily played video games well into the night.

...

"We're gonna regret this in the morning aren't we?" Pyrrha said, not looking up from her scroll.

"Oh big time." Yang replied, tongue sticking out in concentration.

… An indeterminate amount of time later…

"Girls, breakfast is ready." Pyrrhic called out, the heavenly smell of breakfast food permeating the household. Small footsteps rapidly descended the stairs before Ruby appeared, slightly drooling at the thought of breakfast.

"Morning Ms. Nikos! Thanks a lot!" Ruby said already inhaling her food. Pyrrhic smiled at her strangely endearing enthusiasm. She glanced in the direction of the stairs, expecting Yang and Pyrrha to follow, but none came. She waited one minute, yet there was no sign of anyone coming.

"Ruby, are Yang and Pyrrha awake?

"Yeah, they'll be down soon. They were super groggy and slow. I don't think they slept well or something." Ruby said between mouthfuls. True to her word, Pyrrha and Yang came down the stairs, groggy and sleep deprived.

"Good-yawn-morning mother." Pyrrha said, eyes drooping and feet dragging.

"Mornin' Ms. Nikos." Yang murmured while lazily reaching for a chair.

"Didn't get much sleep last night?" Pyrrhic asked while smiling knowingly.

"No, we played games on our scrolls for a while." Yang answered while slowly eating her food. Pyrrha murmured in agreement.

"Well at least you had fun." Pyrrhic said, earning nods from all three girls. There was quiet as everyone ate their breakfast with varying amounts of urgency. The quiet was broken when someone knocked at the door.

"That must be dad." Ruby said as she got out of her seat and ran to the door. Opening it, she smiled when she saw her father standing in front of her.

"Hi sweetie." Taiyang said as he knelt and hugged Ruby. She peeked over his shoulder to see Qrow and Ace standing behind Tai.

"Hey kid." Qrow said, ruffling Ruby's hair.

"Morning Rubes." Ace said before yawning into his hand. I wanna go to sleep.

"Why's there a lot of purple on you?" Ruby asked. True enough, Ace's body was littered with bruises.

"I got kicked a lot last night." Ace admitted, wincing at the memory.

"You got your butt literally kicked. Hah." Ruby chuckled. Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned around to see Pyrrhic and company. Pyrrhic invited them in while offering breakfast. Qrow and Taiyang followed her to the kitchen while the kids stayed in the living room. Yang took one look at Ace before huffing in amusement.

"You look like crap." Yang said.

"So do you." Ace fired back. The former pirate plopped himself down on a couch with a sigh.

"What a charmer." She said with a roll of her eyes. Charming enough for you, a voice said in the back of her mind. Yang pointedly ignored it. She also ignored how she sat down next to Ace closer than was necessary. Ruby plopped herself down on Yang and Ace's laps while Pyrrha sat down on Ace's other side.

"I got my ass kicked last night and only got a couple hours of sleep. What's your excuse?"

"A slumber party of epic proportions." Yang stated as she sleepily rubbed her eyes.

"Yeah! We had so much fun!" Ruby exclaimed.

"It was a wonderful experience for sure, though I must admit I didn't really know what I was doing." Pyrrha.

"So you winged it? I can respect that." Ace mused.

"Tell us about your mission!" Ruby blurted, unable to contain herself.

"What d'ya wanna hear?"

"Everything, duh." Yang said with a roll of her eyes. Ace huffed in amusement.

"A lot of stuff happened. Gonna need to be more specific." He replied, tiredly smiling at Yang's unamused face.

"Allow me to start. How did-yawn-you get so beaten up?" Pyrrha asked while poking at a bruise at Ace's arm.

"It was some faunus lieutenant guy I fought. In case you couldn't tell, I kind of lost." Ace said, much to the surprise of the three girls. Ruby gasped dramatically while Pyrrha and Yang, still tired from late night video gaming, had more reserved reactions.

"You lost? As in he won?" Ruby asked.

"Well we beat each other until our auras gave out then I bluffed and he took it. He could've beat me easy if he decided to keep fighting. Technically I guess it was more of a draw." Ace explained. He didn't notice Yang wince slightly as he mentioned his loss.

"He must have been quite the opponent." Pyrrha said.

"Really slippery is what he was." Ace muttered.

"So he just up and left? I kind of don't believe you." Yang spoke up.

"I threatened to blow up the building we were fighting in if he didn't leave. He bought it." Ace stated.

"Wow, you must have looked pretty desperate and crazy for him to believe you." Ruby said. Ace sent her a half hearted glare.

"Desperate is not a word I use to describe it." He retorted.

"So you weren't with Dad and Qrow when they were chasing that guy?" Yang asked.

"Nope. I didn't even get to see the bastard until Qrow and Tai already had him in chains." Ace grumbled disappointedly. "They got to go on a cool car chase while I got pummeled into the ground." This earned a round of laughter, though he himself didn't find it very funny. It's not everyday you miss out on a car chase.

"But you are okay, right?" Yang abruptly asked. Ace glanced at her in slight confusion. The question was so sudden that it caught him a little off guard. She winced internally as she realized the strangeness of the question.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Ace responded. "I've got bruises everywhere, but it's all good."

"Well… good." Yang said, awkwardly patting his head. Really? A pat? Way to go Yang. Why don't you ask if he wants belly rubs next? She felt the beginnings of a blush as she cursed her odd behaviour. The young teenager studiously avoided eye contact with Ace, opting instead to glance anywhere else.

Confused, Ace glanced at Ruby only to be met with similar puzzlement. Wanting to change the subject, she regaled Ace with slumber party exploits. Pyrrha, however, had a better idea of what was going through Yang's head.

Talk to him, she mouthed while Ace laughed at something Ruby told her.

And say what? She mouthed back.

How you feel, Pyrrha responded. Yang jolted and blushed, much to her friend's puzzlement.

"What!?" Yang said a little too loudly, causing Ace and Ruby to look at her in confusion. Pyrrha tilted her head, similarly confused.

"You know, like the stuff we talked about last night." Pyrrha clarified.

Oh, that stuff, Yang thought as she realized her overreaction.

"You're acting really strange." Ace said, glancing between Yang and Pyrrha.

"Must be the sleep deprivation." Ruby said.

"Uh, yeah let's go with that." Yang quickly said. "Hey did you get those souvenirs we asked for?" She said in an effort to change the subject.

"Oh, yeah thanks for reminding me. I think I left them outside. Be right back." Ace said while getting up. The moment he exited the front door Pyrrha turned to Yang.

"Is lack of sleep really making you act weird?"

"I dunno, maybe?" Yang responded.

"You mean definitely." Ruby said. The front door opened, cutting off anymore conversation.

"Alright, so for Ruby I got this top hat and Yang I got you this white Fang mask." Ace said while handing out the items.

"Cool!" Ruby said, immediately putting on the top hat.

"Where'd you get these?" Yang asked while inspecting the mask.

"Off the guy I fought. I told him to give them to me or I'd blow us up." Ace said with almost unnerving nonchalance.

"Did you get Pyrrha anything?" Ruby asked.

"That's alright. I don't recall ask-"

"Yeah. Thing is I can't fit it through the door, so you'll have to come outside." Ace said, much to Pyrrha's surprise.

"Ace you really didn't have to get me something."

"I wanted to. Now come outside." Ace said. Pyrrha smiled and followed her friend outside. Curious, Yang and Ruby tagged along. Upon seeing the gift, all three girls fell silent.

"That… is a big sword." Yang said, breaking the silence.

"I think it's called a Zanbato or something along those lines. I got it off some Mook." Ace explained.

"I-uh-don't know what to say." Pyrrha said, smiling in amusement.

"Can you even pick it up?" Ruby asked while poking at the blade.

"I can, and I'm pretty sure Pyrrha can too." Ace said while gesturing. The young prodigy wrapped both hands around the handle and started lifting. Though strong in her own right, Pyrrha didn't have the strength of Ace, and was only able to lift it a few inches off the ground on her own. However, she had the advantage of a powerful semblance. Using a small amount of her polarity, the redhead seemingly lifted the blade without trouble.

"You are way stronger than you look." Yang said while glancing at Pyrrha.

"Thank you." Pyrrha replied while swinging the sword experimentally. Maintaining my polarity over it is a lot harder than simply redirecting someone else's weapon. It was a testament to Pyrrha's prowess that only seconds after picking up the weapon her mind was already realizing the potential gains to be made from training with such a weapon.

"What do you think?" Ace asked, thoroughly impressed with the apparent ease Pyrrha was swinging the weapon around. She's something else, he thought in admiration.

"Honestly? I adore it. This will help immensely with my training. Not to mention the added variety having a giant sword will give me.* Pyrrha answered, a big smile on her face.

"Glad you liked it. It might need a new paint job though." Ace said while patting the blade.

"I have a couple ideas in mind." She replied.

…

"... so long story short we got our guy." Taiyang said.

"I'm glad you were able to sort that mess out, though I wish you hadn't caused so much destruction." Pyrrhic replied.

"In our defense we didn't know he had a veritable tank in his garage. Not to mention the white fang bastards." Qrow said before drinking from a cup of coffee, mixed with alcohol of course.

"And yet you found it wise to let Ace fight them all alone?" She replied with just a hint of motherly disapproval.

"Believe me I didn't like it either, but we didn't have a lot of options. In fact it's a good thing he came. Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to get past the white fang." Taiyang said.

"The kid can take of himself." Qrow said.

"Those bruises say otherwise."

"You should've seen the other guy. Kid says he nearly broke the rabbit's leg."

"Be that as it may-"

"Ace was holding back." Qrow said.

"-I don't-what? You mean he's even stronger than he lets on?" Pyrrhic asked in surprise.

"Physically speaking, the boy was going all out."

"I sense a but here." Pyrrhic said.

"He didn't use his semblance is what Qrow is saying." Taiyang clarified. Pyrrhic's face went through a myriad of emotion ranging from surprise to confusions and everything in between.

"And he didn't use it because?"

"There was a lot of flammable stuff in the area." Qrow said matter of factly. The resident mother raised an eyebrow, but didn't press the topic.

"All right. I suppose you'll be heading back to Vale soon?" She asked.

"I scheduled our tickets this morning before leaving the hotel. We'll be out of here in a couple days. I gotta say, I'm pretty homesick." Taiyang said.

"I'm not. I got a lot of paperwork to do at Sanctum. Not looking forward to that." Qrow grumbled. Pyrrhic giggled at his childish attitude.

"I hope it goes without saying that you'll keep in touch?" She asked.

"Of course. Even if we can't, I'm sure the kids will do that for us. They're really getting along." Taiyang said. Qrow quietly mumbled something causing Tai to elbow him.

"Speaking of, Ace got Pyrrha a giant sword. So, you're welcome " Qrow said, causing Pyrrhic to have a small fit of laughter. For some odd reason, the thought of a kid gifting another kid a weapon was hilarious to her.

"That boy is something else." She said between breaths.

… One day later…

"Give...up...yet?" Ace asked between labored breaths. The former pirate held the unsheathed forms of Straw and Spade in front of him, arms trembling from exertion.

"I don't see why I would. I have more aura than you." Pyrrha replied through her own heavy breathing. The prodigy held her sword and shield at the ready. She knew that although her aura levels were indeed higher, Ace could deplete it all in one hit.

"Of course you do. You're so slippery." Ace said with a hint of frustration. He had such a hard time hitting Pyrrha due to her semblance. He found himself having to exert much more power than usual just to have a chance of connecting. To make matters worse, she used her semblance so seamlessly and sparingly that he couldn't even tell that she was redirecting his swords.

That wasn't to say Pyrrha was having an easy time of it. Even with her polarity, dodging his attacks was anything but simple. Each strike held a frightening amount of power. She could chip away at his aura with her fast strikes and combos all she wanted, but all it would take was two or three blows from Ace to bring down the same amount of aura from her reserves. On the rare occasion that she met someone with a similar skill level, Pyrrha could outlast them through conservative use of her semblance. They would waste all their energy trying to hit her that it was trivial for her to break through their tired defense.

That was not the case here. Ace had stamina and endurance to burn. So much so that he could outlast most other opponents if he needed to. The similarities in their fighting styles glaringly showed. What had begun as an intense fight had turned into a battle of attrition both sides were determined to win. Wordlessly, they clashed once again. Their exhaustion showed as they fought at a slower speed than the beginning of their match. And yet, through all this, neither could contain their excitement.

"So this is what the top looks like." Yang murmured. I've got a long way to go. That's for sure, she thought to herself.

"They. Are. So. Cool." Ruby responded. Her eyes had veritable stars in them as she watched her friends fight to their heart's content. The battle continued until Ace deliberately stepped into a sword strike. He growled as his aura visibly flared before giving out, yet in that split second he brought Spade down on her shoulder. Pyrrha cried out as her own aura gave out. Both prodigies fell to the ground, thoroughly spent.

"I think that's my win." Pyrrha said between breaths.

"What? No way. You tied at best." Ace responded indignantly.

"How? I depleted your aura first." Pyrrha retorted.

"I can fight without my aura. You can't." Ace answered. Pyrrha snorted in amusement, though that turned to confusion when she saw Ace reach over and put his hand on her torso. "Try to get up." He said. Though somewhat confused, she did as told. Imagine her surprise when she found that she couldn't budge an inch off the ground. Gritting her teeth, Pyrrha put as much effort as she could into pushing herself up. However, try as she might, Ace had her firmly under his grasp.

"You make a valid point." Pyrrha finally said as her arms gave out and she slumped to the ground. Ace got up and offered a hand towards his friend. She gladly took it, and was only somewhat surprised with the ease he pulled her up.

"Yep. So my win."

"No, in a tournament setting I would be the winner." Pyrrha replied while placing a hand on Ace's shoulder to steady herself.

"Well in a real fight I'd be the one who's not dead." Ace said. They glared at each other for all of three seconds before breaking down into laughter.

It was a true testament to her maturity and growth as a person that Yang only felt the slightest inklings of jealousy.

"Honestly, I find our differing criteria of victory fascinating." Pyrrha said.

"Tai would probably say it has something to do with our priorities and experience or something like that." Ace responded.

"That sounds interesting. However, the Victor must still be decided. Luckily for us, we have two witnesses." Pyrrha said before looking expectantly at Yang and Ruby.

"Pyrrha won." Ruby said immediately.

"What!?" Ace cried out.

"Hah!" Pyrrha said in triumph.

"I mean she hit you way more than you did her." Ruby defended.

"One of my hits is equal to like seven of hers." Ace protested.

"Too late. She is mine." Pyrrha said while patting Ruby's back.

"Actually I think Ace won." Yang spoke up.

"Huh?" Pyrrha said.

"Yes! I knew you'd be on my side!" Ace cheered while putting an arm around Yang's shoulder. His antics caused her to grin and look away.

"Explain, oh dear sister." Ruby said.

"A fight doesn't in real life doesn't end when someone's aura empties out. Who'd win if you fought right now?" Yang explained. All four looked thoughtful, processing every bit of information.

"We really should have set the win conditions before the match." Pyrrha finally said.

"That would have made a lot of sense." Ace agreed. "Anyone else thirsty?"

"After that workout of a match? Of course." Pyrrha said while fanning herself. "There's refreshments in the kitchen if you'd like to join me." She offered while gesturing to her home.

"Juice!" Ruby cheered, running towards the house.

"If you drink it all I'm gonna throw you into a bush." Ace said as he chased after Ruby. Once they were out of war shot, Pyrrha turned toward Yang.

"So?"

"So what?"

"Have you told him about your worries?" Pyrrha elaborated.

"You're really focusing on that, aren't you?" Yang replied.

"I care, Yang. You're bothered by this and I just want you to feel better." Pyrrha said with complete sincerity. Yang rubbed the back of her head in contemplation.

"... fine. Could you go tell him to go outside? And make sure Ruby doesn't interrupt?" She asked.

"Of course. We'll be waiting inside once you finish." Pyrrha said while putting a supportive hand on Yang's shoulder. The young prodigy went inside and Ace came out a few seconds later.

"Pyrrha said you wanted to talk, so what's up?" Ace asked. Yang rubbed her arm, struggling with her words.

"Ace I-well-thing is…" she sighed in frustration, not used to talking such subjects.

"Yang, what's wrong?" Ace asked, now able to see something was bothering her. His best friend was silent for all of a minute before speaking.

"... you ever care about something a lot?" Yang finally said.

"I guess?" Ace answered.

"You care about it so much that you'd be angry if it got hurt?"

"Yeah." Ace answered, still confused.

"But then the thing you care about is always doing things that gets it hurt and you get mad at it for not stopping?"

"I don't und-"

"It gets to the point where it's so hard to see it get hurt and you know you can't do anything about it? That you can't protect the thing you care about? That you want it to stop but know that if it did it wouldn't be what made it special anymore?" Yang said, talking at a faster rate. She felt all her bottled up emotions begin to pour out. Ace's eyes widened as he began to understand.

"..."

"Have you ever felt useless because the thing you care about might get taken away from you and there's nothing you could do to stop it?" Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked straight at him. Ace felt guilt snake through his very being. He hated seeing Yang cry. It didn't suit her.

I did this. It's all my fault. I never asked what they thought. Never stopped and considered how it might affect them, he realised.

"Ace." Yang said, snapping him out if his thoughts.

"Yeah?" He replied, unable to meet her eyes. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his torso, face buried in his shoulder

"I care about you." She said, a slight tremble in her voice. Yang felt him slowly embrace her, his movements unsure and cautious.

"I-I don't know what to say." He managed.

"Well you could start with 'I'm sorry.'" Yang murmured.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you felt this way. Why didn't you say anything?" He asked.

"Never really felt like this until you got poisoned. I wasn't gonna say anything until Pyrrha got me to."

"Why?"

"I don't know. We never really talk about our feelings. I wasn't sure if you'd like it?" She ventured. Ace once again felt himself filled with guilt. He grabbed Yang's shoulders and pushed her to arms length, looking directly into her eyes.

"I've never been good at this, and it's not something I like to do." Yang winced, feeling as if her fears were confirmed. "So I need you to listen very closely when I say: never think that again. You can talk to me about anything. You're my best friend. Best friends are there for each other no matter what." Ace said while grinning. Yang felt herself smile as relief and happiness washed over her.

"You can be pretty good at talking when you want to be." She joked.

"I'm good when I'm talking to you." Ace replied. Yang blushed, her smile growing wider.

"Uhm… wanna go inside? I kinda want something to drink now." Yang asked.

"Ladies first." Ace said while gesturing. Yang snorted and punched his arm.

… 1 Day Later…

Ace flopped onto his bed with a sigh of satisfaction. He looked around his room and was pleased to see his tournament winnings in the corner. The former pirate had already said good night to his family. He was so eager to sleep that he postponed story telling until tomorrow, much to the disappointment of Ruby. As he looked around his room, Ace felt sleep over take him.

They were finally home.

A/N: guys I'm not dead I swear. Sorry about the wait. I've been really busy these last couple years and haven't had much free time to write. And, honestly, I didn't have much drive to do it either. The last couple seasons of RWBY have been disappointing and it killed my motivation. I didn't even finish watching season 6 cause it was so bad. I read the wiki to find out what happens. I could go into more detail, but I don't feel like ranting.

Ace and Co. are back in Vale finally. The next chapter is probably gonna be more chill and relaxed considering the three parter we just got through. I'm looking forward to writing about Signal again.

I guess I should address Satin. First, yes he's related to Velvet. Second, his semblance is the reason he can Dodge Ace's attacks easily. It's kind of like a different application of Velvet's semblance. I'm interested to see what people theorize his semblance is. Third, he'll be a recurring character, so look out for that.

On the topic of Ace and Pyrrha, there's not much to say. Without any haki or devil fruit, they're almost dead even. Ace is stronger and a little faster, but Pyrrha has more skill and her semblance let's her keep up with Ace. It's kind of funny. Ace's weapons are kind of a handicap when he fights Pyrrha. If he were to just use his fists he'd do a lot better.

That's about it. Feel free to leave a comment or PM if you have questions.

See you all next chapter.

Until then