AN: Hey guys, I'm back! I apologize for being a little late on this chapter, but other things distracted me from finishing this on time. However, this chapter is the longest chapter yet, and has got plenty of action, so I think you all will like it! As always, read, review, judge, share, whatever! This story has over 60 follows and 40 favorites! Not bad for someone who just started to write as a way to kill time during the RWBY hiatus. So thanks to you all! Enjoy the new chapter!

"How are we looking, Ray?" Michael asked, as he and Gavin began to prep the charges for the wall.

Ray was watching for guards. "Looks clear for the moment. Hurry up and blow the wall while we have a window!"

The three thieves had set their plan into motion 5 minutes earlier. Each man was carrying a rifle. Ray and Gavin also had their red-bladed swords, while Michael had his hatchet. Ray acquired a small sedan to use as a getaway vehicle and positioned it at the edge of the makeshift parking lot at the carnival entrance. He then hurried to rejoin the other two near the far wall. Gavin, who was actually pretty good at imitating a Beowolf, created a distraction that drew the guards away from the section of wall closest to the Lien storeroom. Michael estimated they had maybe another minute before they realized there was no Grimm threat and returned to their posts.

Gavin stuck the explosives onto the cinderblock. "Charges are set, guys! Get clear so I can blow it!"

All three men moved back and donned their masks. None of them were too worried about being identified. Junior never really took down the information of the people who worked as his goons, so they weren't really worried about retaliation from him. However, it was best to cover their tracks.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Gavin cried, as he hit the detonator. The charges blew with a roar, and the wall crumbled to dust.

Michael readied his rifle, as Ray did the same. "LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLETS HIEST!" he cried, as he rushed through the hole in the wall. Michael followed behind.

The interior of the room was a mess. Four guards lay on the ground, unconscious by the blast. The table was stacked with easily thousands of Lien.

"YEAH BOI!" Michael exclaimed. This was it, the score of a lifetime. "Gavin, Ray, start stuffing the bags with as much Lien as you can carry. We leave this room in two minutes. I'll keep watch by the door. Gavin, how much ammo do we have for these rifles?"

Gavin, who was loading Lien into one of the bags, stiffened and froze. He slowly turned to Michael and said with a nervous chuckle, "Well, uh, about that…"

A few minutes earlier…

"Nora, wait!" Ren tried to keep up with his partner, who moved with purpose towards where she saw the armed men.

"Can't talk, baddies to stop!" the Valkyrie sang cheerfully. "Besides, we're not unarmed anymore!

She was right. Ren had been able to acquire a pair of paintball guns from a nearby booth, and, after apologizing profusely to the booth operator and promising to return them, rushed to catch up with Nora. He would have preferred to have Stormflower with him instead, but, he had to admit, it sure beat being unarmed.

"We also don't know what we are up against," Ren added calmly. "Those men looked like professional criminals, so we need to be wise and careful with our actions."

Nora looked back at her partner, a grin on her face. "So what's our move, then?" she asked, hefting the hammer in her hands.

Ren gestured over towards a squat structure resting up against the far wall. "That's looks like an administrative building of sorts. There are probably guards inside. We'll go talk to them, explain the sit-"

Ren was cut off by the sound of an explosion as a plume of smoke and dust rose beyond the building they were moving towards. People started to scream and turned to run towards the carnival entrance.

"That blast came from that building!" Ren cried, readying his paintball guns. "Nora, make sure your Aura is up and take the right side! Whoever these people are, they'll have to come out this door. We'll ambush them here."

Michael was mad.

Not that he wasn't ever not mad. There were a lot of things that made him mad. Being one of Junior's disposable goons wasn't exactly a job that dealt in sunshine and rainbows. His companions sometimes even called him "Rage Quit" on account of how angry Michael sometimes got. But this time, Michael had a legitimate reason to be mad.

"YOU DIDN'T GRAB ANY EXTRA AMMO?!" he screamed at Gavin, trembling with fury. "HOW THE FUCK ARE WE SUPPOSED TO MAKE IT OUT OF HERE ALIVE WITH ONE MEASLY CLIP OF AMMO?"

"I'm sorry, Michael!" Gavin cried. "I only had time to check to see if the guns were loaded! I grabbed what I could and got out of there."

"YOU COULD HAVE LED OFF WITH THAT WHEN I ASKED YOU IF YOU GOT THE SUPPLIES!" Michael shot back, shaking with rage.

'GUYS!" Ray shouted as he glanced out the window of the storeroom, getting the other two's attention. "Michael, you can kill Gavin later. I'll even help, provided we survive long enough." He shot a look of disdain at Gavin, who was cowering in embarrassment. "Right now, we need to move. I don't see any security coming yet, and the carnival guests are all running for the exits. We need to use them as cover to get out of here!"

Michael started to compose himself, if only slightly. "Gav, Ray, grab the bags and let's fucking GO!" He strode to the door, rifle at the ready. He slowly opened it and stuck his head out. No one was visible. "Okay, let's move!"

The three stepped out and began to move towards the exit.

"HEY!"

They slowly turned around towards the sound, and found a young girl in pink, with orange hair, wielding a large mallet.

The girl had a wicked grin on her face. "Where do you think YOU'RE going?" she asked with a smirk.

Ray stepped forward. "You think you're gonna stop us?" he scoffed, clearly unimpressed. "You're just a little girl!"

"Well, not just her…" a voice came from behind. Gavin and Michael turned to this new voice, startled. A young man with black hair wearing a green shirt held a pair of paintball guns. He pointed one at Gavin, a look of calm focus on his face. "Drop your weapons and we won't harm you."

Gavin laughed. "You hear that, Michael? 'They won't harm us.' The little tosser's got some stones."

Michael glanced at the two teens. These two were trying to be heroes. He didn't care for do-gooders that much. "Well, last time I checked, girly," he said to the hammer-wielding ginger, "Bullets beat hammer." Michael raised his rifle and let off a burst in her direction.

"Nora!" Ren cried, but it turned out to be an unnecessary warning.

Nora grinned. She spun the hammer in her hands with grace, and blocked every shot with a burst of Aura.

Michael was stunned. Those bullets should have chewed right through her! He then came to a realization: that these were no normal teens.

"They're more of those Beacon freaks!" he cried to Gavin and Ray. "We need to scatter!"

Ray and Gavin shared a glance of fear between them. They had both heard what both the red-hooded girl and the fiery blonde had done to Junior's men on previous occasions. If these two here were from the same academy as the others…

"Oh, screw this, I'm bailing!" Ray said, as he took off down the midway, sprinting away from the hammer girl. He looked ahead - his path looked clear - until the green clad boy moved in front of him.

"Nice try," Ren said with a small smile, "but you're not getting away that easy." Ray raised his rifle to fire at the boy, but Ren fired first. A barrage of expertly aimed paint balls struck Ray in his hands and arms, causing him to drop the rifle.

"AHH THAT HURTS!" Ray screamed, as he drew his sword. He began to advance on Ren, malice in his eyes. "I'm gonna cut you to pieces, kid." Ray growled. He rose his blade and swung at Ren, who blocked the strike with his pistols. Ren countered with a kick to Ray's knee, which caused him to cry out in pain. Ray sunk to the ground, hurt, but not out. He managed to land a blow on Ren's side with his blade, but Ren's Aura protected him. Ray was stunned. Ren looked down at him, and drew his fist back.

"NO! WAIT! I SURREND-"Ray tried to cry, before a punch from Ren knocked him out.

Gavin was running down a pathway with carnival rides on either side of him. After Ray took off, he and Michael also split up as well. Gavin looked around for the two freak teenagers, but didn't see either of them. He slowed and allowed himself a breath relief. I think I lost them, he thought to himself. He started down a path that would lead him towards the exit, when a glittering ball of pink and white thudded from above.

Nora rose from her crouch and hefted her hammer. "You're a fast one, I'll give you that!" She chirped at Gavin, who started to back away. "But I got you now!"

Gavin raised his rifle and fired on full auto. Nora zipped back and forth, dodging every shot. Gavin's rifle clicked empty, so he threw it away and drew his blade. He ran towards Nora, sword slashing forward. Nora parried the blade with the shaft of the hammer, as Gavin continued to strike. He drove Nora backwards with his force, and managed to corner her against a booth, Nora blocking his blade with her hammer. "Got you now, you little girl." Gavin smirked.

Nora grinned. "Do you?" she said with a smile, as she shoved him back and spun the hammer downward, connecting with Gavin's left knee. A sickening crunch echoed thought the carnival, lasting microseconds before being replaced by Gavin screaming in pain.

"AHHHHHH BOLLOCKS!" Gavin screeched in agony. "YOU BROKE MY BLOODY LEG!" Gavin crumpled to the ground in pain, as he looked up at the crazy hammer girl. Nora was winding up for one final blow. "NO, WAI-"

'NORA SMASH!" she cried, as she swung the hammer in an upwards swing, connecting with Gavin's chest, sending him rocketing through the air, flying clear across the carnival.

Michael was running through a maze of booths when he heard Gavin's wail. He looked up and saw his companion flying through the air, screeching like a Nevermore. "MIIIIIIICCCCCCCOOOOOO!" Gavin cried as he soared through the air, crashing into a booth on the far side of the carnival. Michael shook his head. This had gone far too wrong. He needed to escape with what he had so this wasn't a total loss. He started to run for the nearest exit.

Nora turned a corner and found Ren running towards her. "REN, I GOT ONE!" she chirped, hefting the hammer in her hands with a grin.

Ren smiled. "Good work, Nora. I got one too. We need to find the third man though. We can't let him escape."

Nora frowned. "But this place is massive! We can't search for him alone!"

Ren nodded as he pulled out his scroll. "Agreed. I'm calling in some help."

Before the explosion…

Normally Jaune didn't like carnival rides, but a Ferris wheel wasn't exactly a roller coaster, so his motion sickness wasn't a factor here. But that wasn't to say he wasn't feeling queasy. He looked over at Pyrrha, who was seated next to him in the basket as the wheel began to rotate higher. Just say it, idiot, his mind screamed at him. Tell her!

"Jaune, is everything okay?" Jaune snapped out of his thoughts and looked up. Pyrrha was staring at him expectedly. "Oh, uh yeah, everything is fine." He replied. "Uh, why do you ask?"

Pyrrha smiled. "Well, it's just that you've been staring at me all night."

Oh crap, Jaune thought. Think, think! "Uh, well, uh it's just that you are…pretty to look at…" Jaune cringed as soon as the words left his mouth, his face turning scarlet. YOU IDIOT, his mind screamed.

Pyrrha was blushing as well. "You think I'm 'pretty to look at'?" she repeated Jaune's words, a hint of amusement in her voice.

Jaune panicked. "Uh, NO! I mean, yes, you ARE pretty, but, I mean, no, I wasn't looking at you like that, I mean….Jaune sighed. You're in this deep, his mind spoke to him. You might as well finish the charge.

Jaune swallowed. "Pyrrha, I have to tell you something."

Pyrrha's heart fluttered. "What is it, Jaune?" Emerald eyes met sapphire ones, as the wheel rotated their basket to the very top. The broken moon above illuminated everything. If one were to look out at the surrounding lands, one could see all of Vale, from the island of Patch to the edge of Forever Fall. But green stared into blue, and neither saw anything but each other.

Jaune breathed. "Pyrrha, I have been attracted to you ever since we became partners during initiation. You're beautiful, smart, incredibly strong, and you treated me with respect ever since we met. You've helped me increase my combat skills a hundredfold with our training, and I can't help but being head over heels for you."

Pyrrha's face shone in the moonlight. She sat and looked at the blonde knight, smiling. "Jaune, I'm happy to say that the feeling is mutual."

Jaune looked stunned. "R-really?"

"Yes, Jaune." Pyrrha's eyes sparkled with emotion. "Ever since I first saw you at Beacon, I'll admit that I had a bit of a crush on you. And when we became partners and started to train together, I became more infatuated with you. Everyone else here treats me as Pyrrha Nikos, Mistral Champion and famous untouchable athlete. But you treated me as a genuine person, and liked me for me, not my accomplishments. I guess, what I'm saying is, is that I'm glad that you like me back."

Jaune sighed with relief. "So, uh, where do we go from here?" he asked.

Pyrrha smiled and moved her face closer to Jaune's. "I'll show you." she replied, as she moved in. Jaune moved as well, and their lips were about to touch when they both heard an explosion.

Jaune raised his head and looked out towards the sound of the blast. A column of smoke and dust rose from a corner of the carnival. "What's happening? Is it a Grimm attack?"

Pyrrha squinted, trying to make out what was happening below. "I don't think so. I don't see anything…"

Gunfire echoed from the area of the blast. Jaune began to fidget, feeling trapped on the Ferris wheel. "We need to get down there! Someone might need help!" The wheel, if as it somehow heard Jaune's plea, began to spin back to the ground.

Pyrrha looked a bit restless as well. "We will need to find something to use as weapons before we charge into whatever is happening." she said.

Jaune nodded. "Agreed. Maybe one of the guards can oblige us. When we get down there, we can explain we are Beacon students, and we can help them…" Jaune started to ramble a bit as his mind went into mission planning mode.

Pyrrha looked on with a swell of pride. Jaune was taking the initiative and planning to be the hero he always wanted to be. Any lack of self-confidence he may have had left went sailing out the window.

And he likes you! Her mind sang. Like, really, really likes you! She focused on the task at hand as the Ferris wheel finally spun them both down to ground level.

"We need to call Ren and Nora too." Pyrrha said to Jaune.

"Good idea," Jaune replied, pulling out his scroll. But before he could call Ren, he heard a scream. He looked up at the sound and saw a man flying through the air, bellowing as he soared across the carnival.

"What the…"Jaune muttered, as his scroll beeped with an incoming call. He pulled it out and answered. "Hello?"

"Jaune! Where are you and Pyrrha? We need backup!" Ren cried through the device.

"We are next to the Ferris wheel. Ren, what's happening? We saw an explosion-"

"No time for the full details!" Ren interrupted. "Short version is, me and Nora disrupted a group of thugs robbing the carnival owners! We stopped two of them, but the last one got away from us. He's heading for the exit now, using the crowds as cover. He's in a black suit and has a rifle. Can you head him off?"

"Yeah, we're on it! Jaune said as he looked at Pyrrha, who heard every word, and nodded. We're moving towards the exit now. We'll get him."

"Nora and I are on our way up to you. Ren out." The call ended. Jaune and Pyrrha started to run to the front of the carnival. Pyrrha paused on the way to scoop up a long section of pole, tapered to a point at one end. "What's that for?" Jaune asked as they continued to run.

Pyrrha grinned. "Well, it's not Milo," referring to her spear, which was back at Beacon, "but I can use this the same way."

Jaune nodded in understanding. His sword and shield were also at Beacon, so he needed to find something he could use in the interim. Okay, gotta improvise… He saw a booth selling carved wooden goods and strode over to it. He came back hefting a large hardwood sword. A toy, but deadly in the right hands, he thought and smiled at his partner. "Okay, let's go!

The two took off running again.