Professor Arc

Chapter 14: Unhappy Hour

"So... on a scale of one to ten, how dangerous is this person we're seeing?" Jaune asked nervously, as he fidgeted with his armour. Stood across from him was Neo, a sarcastic smirk in place though even to him it looked a little more brittle than usual. "That bad?"

The small girl nodded, not meeting his eyes.

Well shit... there were plenty of things in life that scared Jaune Arc. His sisters, his father, his mother, Glynda, most of the students, Grimm, the idea of being found out – people who put tomato ketchup on eggs. There were enough things to fill a small book. But right near the top of all things was almost certainly Neo.

Because honestly if how she acted around him was classified as "friendly" then he dreaded to imagine what "hostile" might translate to. Also he'd had a first row seat to that little show she'd put on with the Ursa, and while that had been to save his life – something he was obviously quite thankful for. It still painted a scary picture of just how strong she was.

And just how far he had to go – Hell, he could only last at most a minute with her, and that when she wasn't using her weapon.

Still, back to the issue at hand – he was going to be meeting with some kind of crime boss as a favour to Roman, and would need to agree to whatever plan they had. Something about smuggling people into Beacon if he remembered... What could they want from that though? Initially he suspected the worst; that they were trying to kill someone. But dramatic panic aside, if they wanted to do that then why not just have Neo teleport in and do it?

Maybe it was something more mundane... like them just wanting someone to be able to sneak in and graduate as a Hunter? Or have access to better training for some promising new recruits.

"How do I look?" He said as he strapped the last piece of armour into place and turned to the girl. First impressions counted after all – so he'd gone so far as to buff what little plate he had, and even shine his boots. Just in case anyone saw him he'd tied a grey scarf around his neck that he could pull up over his lower face if needed.

Neo tilted her head as she looked him up and down. After a few moments she held up three fingers.

"Three out of ten?" Coming from Neo that was high praise. "Good enough... so, how are we getting there?"

Travel by Bullhead would be the obvious answer, but it might look just a little bit strange if one of the staff slipped out of Beacon so late in the day. Sure it was only seven or so – but it was a weekday, and that meant paperwork and preparation for lessons.

Neo grinned – which really ought to have been the first (and only) warning he needed – before she strolled over and grabbed him by the sleeve. Whatever Jaune had been about to say died in his mouth, as his entire body compressed and folded. It felt like he was crushed into the space of a speck of dust – before being dropped from a great height. His stomach plunged, even as the food he'd eaten threatened to force its way from his throat. Until with a jarring flash of light, the world seemed to stop.

Right as his face smashed into that of Roman Torchwick.

If his life had been an anime he might have lost his first kiss to the man, and honestly – that might have been preferable. Instead what he received was a rapidly widening green eye – before his forehead collided with that of Roman's. Immovable object met irresistible force – made all the worse via the application of aura which meant that instead of two hard (but not solid) heads meeting. Two skulls that may as well have been made of granite smashed together.

On top of that he got a whole inch of burning cigar crushed into his teeth as they bounced off one another with a sound that was reminiscent of a car crash.